Frame rate is something that can significantly impact your skill in most games. Especially for FPS players, a low frame rate can genuinely make it difficult to fire your weapon. And this OnePlus 15, released today, brings the industry’s first 1.5K 165Hz gaming experience.
What does that mean? When an enemy appears on your screen, if you react fast enough, you will 100% be the one who fires first. As OnePlus’s digital flagship, the OnePlus 15 not only delivers an extended performance experience but also features comprehensive upgrades in its screen, battery life, and design.
So, let’s take a look together at the highlights of this ultra-performance flagship.
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Design and Build
This time, we received two colors: Original Sand Dune and Nebula Purple. The aesthetic styles of the two are completely different. OnePlus’s design inspiration comes from the sci-fi epic Dune, and this generation’s entire series has adopted the sci-fi-infused Dune aesthetic.
Original Sand Dune is more low-key and minimalist; the body features a matte design. Regardless of the lighting conditions, its texture remains consistently uniform. Nebula Purple, on the other hand, represents personality and brilliance. The AG matte glass, combined with the industry’s first dual-micro-streamer process, allows the back’s four edges to produce a trajectory of blue-purple light under illumination.
Furthermore, the middle frames of both are made of frosted metal and use a matching color design, giving them a very strong sense of integration. Viewed from the side, the camera deco’s protrusion is minimal. It won’t feel awkward when held, nor will it block your fingers.
Turning to the front, the 1.15mm ultra-narrow symmetrical bezels are currently the visually narrowest among flagships, even creating a feeling of being nearly borderless. The visual experience of four equal-width bezels is also very comforting for those with obsessive-compulsive tendencies.
It must be said, a lot of effort went into the exterior design of this OnePlus 15. Making a phone look and feel premium is not easy, but OnePlus has achieved it.
For its peripheral hardware, the OnePlus 15 uses an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and also supports IP66, 68, 69, and 69K dust and water resistance. Not only can it protect against daily rain and accidental drops into water, but it can even handle challenging scenarios like being rinsed with hot water, achieving an industrial-grade water resistance capability. This is already the highest level of dust and water resistance in the industry today.
Display Features
In terms of the screen, the OnePlus 15 is equipped with a 6.78-inch third-generation BOE display, capable of simultaneously achieving the industry’s first 165Hz ultra-high refresh rate and 1.5K high resolution. The screen’s substrate is the X3 luminescent material exclusively customized by BOE. This BOE screen also continues the leading display quality of the previous generation, with clear and transparent visual effects in almost any scenario and an extremely wide viewing angle. When viewed from the side, there is almost no color shift.
For eye protection, the OnePlus 15 not only supports full-brightness DC-like dimming but also the traditional high-brightness DC and low-brightness high-frequency PWM dimming. It’s worth mentioning that this generation’s OnePlus 15 has obtained the industry’s first TÜV Rheinland eye protection “Little Gold Label” certification, which is a testament to its eye protection capabilities.
This screen also has a major advantage: it can deliver an excellent display effect in both bright and extremely dark environments. Like the previous generation, the OnePlus 15 supports the self-developed Sunlight Display, allowing the screen to perform exceptionally well even under the sun. At the same time, the OnePlus 15 also debuts the industry’s top hardware-level 1-nit night display. At night, the screen’s minimum brightness can reach a true hardware-level 1 nit. Whether you’re playing games, watching videos, or reading novels at night, it can protect your eyes well.
Additionally, this screen also supports 10-finger touch input and glove mode. With the cold winter approaching, glove mode is still very crucial.
Performance and Gaming
The OnePlus 15 is equipped with the fifth-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite, paired with high-frequency LPDDR5X-Ultra RAM. The specifications are top-tier. At the same time, the OnePlus 15 also debuts the new generation of the Fengchi gaming engine, which can thoroughly unleash the full potential of the powerful hardware to achieve a high-refresh, high-resolution gaming experience at 165Hz and 1.5K.
When we open Delta Force on this phone and go into the settings, you’ll find that 165Hz is already an available option. Besides that, games like Arena Breakout, CODM, and CFM are also adapted for 165Hz. The OnePlus 165Hz ecosystem covers six major game categories: FPS, MOBA, fighting, racing, music, and strategy.
Gaming Test
We also briefly tested the performance of the OnePlus 15 at 165Hz. After enabling 165Hz in Delta Force, the frame rate for half an hour was almost a straight line. The final measured average frame rate was 162.4 fps, with an average power consumption of 4.55W and a maximum temperature of only 40.1 degrees.
For the familiar Genshin Impact, the OnePlus 15 can also handle it with ease. In the 60 fps test at the highest graphics settings, the frame rate was a straight line throughout. The average frame rate was 60 fps, with an average power consumption of 3.84W and a maximum temperature of 38.4 degrees. It can be seen that OnePlus’s strategy is to control heat generation to a certain extent while ensuring frame rate stability. The overall temperature control and frame rate performance are definitely in the top tier currently.
From the tests above, we can see that the performance of the OnePlus 15, as a long-standing strength of the phone, has truly been pushed to its limits. Using it for gaming can be described as a pure joy. The native 165Hz experience can genuinely elevate your gaming experience to the next level.
Battery and Charging
For battery life, the OnePlus 15 features a combination of a 7300mAh large battery plus 120W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. Our test showed that wired charging from 1% to a full charge takes 53 minutes, which is understandable given it’s a 7300mAh battery. We conducted a simple battery endurance test. Starting from a full charge, after one hour of Genshin Impact, the remaining battery was 90%. After one hour of Honor of Kings, 80% remained. After one hour of Delta Force at 165Hz, 67% remained. Finally, after watching one hour of video, 60% remained.
From these results, we can see that the battery life of the OnePlus 15 can almost let you play games for a full day. If you don’t play games, it could probably last for two days on a single charge. In addition, the standard Pangaea Power Management system from OnePlus allows you to directly power the core hardware during charging, reducing phone heat and optimizing the gaming experience.
Camera System
The OnePlus 15 features OPPO’s self-developed Lumo imaging engine with triple 50-megapixel cameras. A function I really like is the shadowless continuous shooting. Just press and hold the shutter button to keep shooting. The most crucial thing about phone photography is actually capturing the shot. Ordinary users sometimes can’t focus on composition, lighting, or color. The combination of the imaging algorithm and shadowless continuous shooting allows users to capture the intended subject as clearly as possible.
Software Experience
ColorOS 16, as the foundation, has had its fluid animations optimized in this upgrade. Opening and interrupting apps are incredibly smooth. However, my favorite upgrade is its specific adaptations for certain apps, like Bilibili. When scrolling through videos on the main page, tapping a video triggers a smooth transition animation. This is the original Bilibili opening animation, and this is the one adapted by ColorOS 16. After getting used to this adapted animation, watching Bilibili’s original one even feels a bit awkward.
Conclusion
Finally, let’s briefly summarize. High refresh rates have become a standard feature on all smartphones today. Looking back, we find that OnePlus has played an important role in this. Initially, the 90Hz screen of the OnePlus 7 Pro brought a breakthrough in the industry’s frame rates. Later, the Fengchi gaming engine in the OnePlus Ace 5 pushed the gaming experience to 120Hz. From 60Hz to 90Hz, then to 120Hz, and to today’s 165Hz, OnePlus has been a part of every industry advancement.
And in high-intensity esports, a high frame rate can truly allow your skills to be better utilized; it can be said to be a real physical advantage. Among the current wave of flagship products, only OnePlus can achieve this. Not only that, but this phone also has no obvious shortcomings in terms of appearance, battery life, screen, or system. As the performance flagship of this OnePlus generation, it truly lives up to its name.
