The OnePlus 15 Is One of the Best Mainstream Phones for Gamers

When you’re a cellular gamer, you recognize the bliss of taking part in wherever you need to go — and the anxious draw back of draining your telephone’s battery as you do. That is why the OnePlus 15‘s huge 7,300-mAh battery makes this a promising handset for the discerning gamer on the go. Presumably, you’ll play for longer with out draining your telephone right down to low capability.

The fact is a bit more sophisticated, partially as a result of the OnePlus 15’s benefits might be diminished if graphics and the body charge are cranked as much as the max. It is a good downside to have, because the telephone’s premium specs give it a better ceiling for efficiency. Nonetheless, players who aren’t cautious can drain their batteries almost as rapidly as different top-tier phones. 

Nonetheless, if you do not need a gaming-specific telephone just like the RedMagic 11 Pro or Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro, which are not simply out there within the US, the OnePlus 15 is a mainstream handset that gives premium specs and options, making it a good selection. 

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The OnePlus 15’s gaming expertise

Good specs, good show, first rate audio system

Battery life whereas gaming is necessary, however we’ll set that apart for a second to give attention to the expertise of taking part in video games themselves. Whereas each variations of the telephone pack the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, I used the pricier $1,000 model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which presumably performs higher than the cheaper $900 mannequin with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. I examined a handful of common video games which can be demanding sufficient to gauge the OnePlus 15’s capabilities. 

The impact: excessive graphics and clean gameplay. Except for its high-end {hardware}, the OnePlus 15 additionally has a 6.78-inch OLED show with HD Plus (2,722 x1,272-pixel decision) and 165Hz most refresh charge. The latter is a giant deal for gaming, however most video games will not hit that cap, as they’re sometimes set to 120 frames per second (fps) at most.

One of many few massive video games that helps such a excessive refresh charge is Dead Cells, whose roguelike gameplay relies on response time. In principle, it helps a limiteless body charge, however I could not inform a lot distinction between 120Hz and 165Hz — with extra frames per second (roughly one per hertz, so 165fps on the telephone’s most), it ought to allow gamers to reply sooner, within the matter of microseconds. 

However I will be the primary one to confess that my clumsy fingers cannot hit the contact controls precisely sufficient to get that degree of fast response. That is the place utilizing a third-party controller is useful, and the Spine I had in my desk drawer labored amazingly nicely. I plugged the OnePlus 15 in, and Useless Cells instantly converted to exterior controls, already mapping my assortment of weapons and gadgets to completely different buttons. In seconds, I used to be slipping in assaults between frantic sequences of dodge rolls and double jumps to evade enemy assaults. 

After I switched to Destiny Rising, the cellular model of the venerable on-line shooter, the Spine was a welcome expertise, giving me much more button controls at my fingertips. There’s much less of a efficiency hole when utilizing the bodily controller with Future Rising, because the contact controls work fairly properly, all issues thought of, in comparison with Useless Cells. Ditto with Diablo Immortal. 

The cellular version of the hack-and-slash darkish fantasy sport additionally has respectable contact controls; whereas there are plenty of buttons on the display that block among the motion, they’re positioned in a means that I do not hit them by chance and customarily faucet the one I imply to hit more often than not. 

Future Rising and Diablo Immortal look good with the graphics cranked as much as their most allowed, however curiously sufficient, they cannot fairly attain the very best potential settings. That makes me wonder if there’s even a telephone on the market that may, as a result of the OnePlus 15’s specs are almost the most effective you may get on a telephone right this moment. Regardless, with options like reflections and excessive graphics turned on, Future Rising and Diablo Immortal have good visuals, someplace between a PS3/Xbox 360 and a PS4/Xbox One. Highly effective as it’s, the OnePlus 15 cannot enhance the visuals on previous video games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, however these with a definite fashion, like Genshin Impression, look good with the telephone’s clean body charge.

This matches the OnePlus 15’s efficiency benchmark check outcomes from Geekbench 6 (which exams the CPU) and 3DMark’s Wild Life Excessive (which exams the graphics). The OnePlus 15 achieved larger scores and body charges than some other telephone, aside from the RedMagic 11 Professional. Whereas handsets within the iPhone 17 series weren’t far behind, older telephones are left within the mud — my two-year-old iPhone 15 Pro Max bought half the scores and body charges that the OnePlus 15 did.

The large battery helps

However quick charging is way more helpful

Except for its highly effective specs, the OnePlus 15’s largest flex is its 7,300-mAh battery, which is half once more as a lot capability because the 5,000-mAh batteries discovered on most premium telephones, just like the iPhone 17 Pro Max. This could result in longer playtime, and from anecdotal expertise, it does: the telephone was at 2% once I began taking part in Useless Cells to hurry up the battery drain, and I managed to play for 45 minutes earlier than it routinely shut right down to protect the remaining 1%. It is potential that OnePlus intentionally undercounts the underside sliver of the battery to offer folks extra time (much like feeling such as you’re getting extra miles in your automobile than anticipated when the gasoline tank’s empty gentle is on), but it surely nonetheless offers the sensation of longevity.

However exterior of a handful of these examples, the capability benefit is extra muted than I anticipated. The OnePlus 15’s battery would not noticeably drain extra slowly throughout gameplay than rival telephones with smaller capability batteries. A few of this may be attributed to the telephone’s larger graphics and body charge functionality, which considerably counteract this capability benefit. Crank them up too excessive they usually’ll drain battery life sooner.

I examined this out by taking part in Future Rising for 20 minutes with all graphics and body charge settings cranked as much as most, which drained 6% of the OnePlus 15’s battery. After I dropped the efficiency to the minimal settings for a equally timed session, it drained 5% of the battery — a small change, but it surely provides up. 

The OnePlus 15’s higher benefit, particularly for players with entry to energy retailers, is its recharging velocity. The telephone packs an 80-watt charger within the field. In my testing, it refilled from almost empty (1%) to 73% in half-hour and reached 100% in 45 minutes. That is sooner than every thing however the iPhone 17 sequence and Samsung Galaxy S25 FE in our exams, all of which have smaller battery capacities. The telephone additionally helps as much as 50-watt wi-fi charging, and since most wi-fi chargers prime out at 15 or 30 watts, good luck discovering one which’ll juice again up the OnePlus 15 at its most supported charge. The telephone helps bypass charging, too, letting you play with out draining the battery whereas it is plugged in (so long as you’ll be able to sport with a wire protruding of the underside of the handset). 

Whereas I used to be disenchanted that the big capability did not result in slower battery drain whereas taking part in video games, I used to be delighted by how rapidly I may prime up the telephone between periods. Heck, you’ll be able to recharge it even sooner with the telephone’s most 100-watt charging velocity, should you decide up a separate OnePlus proprietary charger. It is value noting that the bigger battery will nonetheless extend informal telephone use that does not pressure the {hardware}, reminiscent of searching and utilizing apps.

Last confrontation

What the OnePlus 15 has for cellular players over different telephones

I discovered the OnePlus 15 to be a strong telephone throughout, and there is one thing to be mentioned a couple of high-performance handset that appeals to mainstream tastes. There are actually followers of the “gamer stylish” black, angled strains and RGB lights that characterize merchandise bought to the gaming demographic — issues that appear to be equipment for Decepticons, together with the Asus ROG sequence of telephones. Personally, I just like the stylized artfulness of the OnePlus 15’s rounded corners, flat sides and clean matte again cowl.

One other benefit the OnePlus 15 has over gaming-specific telephones is a standard software program interface. CNET senior author Mike Sorrentino was annoyed by quite a few annoyances within the RedMagic 11 Professional’s software program, from bloatware to model watermarks on images toggled on by default. The OnePlus 15 has a standard interface with its OxygenOS 16 pores and skin on Android 16 — no excessive gamer aesthetic. The Recreation Assistant app is straightforward and I discover it routinely amassing video games inside its folder to be useful.

And crucially, the OnePlus 15 has far and away higher picture capabilities than different gaming telephones. Its suite of three 50-megapixel rear cameras captured spectacular shade and element in a sequence of photos showcasing the streets of Lisbon, Portugal, that had been shot by CNET’s proficient principal editor (and professional photographer in his personal proper) Andrew Lanxon. Whereas they do not fairly attain the standard of a Samsung Galaxy S25 series or a Google Pixel 10, they’re respectably shut, and have the utility of essential, ultrawide and telephoto cameras.

The OnePlus 15 does have some drawbacks. Different gaming telephones have neat options, just like the Asus ROG 9 Professional’s exterior cooling fan and, crucially, its facet port for charging when you’re gaming. Worse, the OnePlus continues to lag rivals in providing solely 4 years of Android updates and 6 years of safety patches, which is notably lower than the seven years that Samsung and Google supply (Apple would not promise iOS updates, however usually manages six or extra years relying on the system). Different gaming telephones are worse, with the RedMagic 11 Professional receiving solely three years of Android updates, whereas the Asus ROG 9 Professional receives an abysmally low two years of working system updates. Even when the OnePlus 15 is healthier in comparison with gaming telephones, it is not nice to spend a couple of grand on a telephone solely to see it cease receiving new, enjoyable software program options after half a decade.

There’s one other caveat to the OnePlus 15, which I would not think about a dealbreaker for players. The telephone’s 1,800-nit most show brightness is ok open air, however pales compared to its rivals; the iPhone 17 sequence, for example, boasts a 3,000-nit peak brightness open air. However I would not anticipate many cellular players to be taking part in exterior anyway — I certain have not been whereas I’ve executed all this gamer science.