OnePlus needs to learn it can’t sell a flagship on battery life alone

The OnePlus 13 was a standout phone that earned a rare 5/5 review score from Android Central, and delivered more at a lower price point than even the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. OnePlus proceeded to lose its way with the OnePlus 15, leaning too hard into battery life and gaming performance at the expensive of durability. The OnePlus 13 was a well-rounded phone that excelled in performance, display quality, camera hardware, and battery life, but the OnePlus 15 tossed that identity aside.

The OnePlus 15’s specs were perplexing because the OnePlus 13 was already a long-lasting flagship phone. It had a 6,000mAh battery capacity with support for fast charging and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. Of course, many of us won’t say no to more battery, but expanding capacity shouldn’t come at the expense of other features. In this case, the OnePlus 15’s gargantuan 7,300mAh battery capacity and gaming focus did come at the expensive of other areas, like display quality and camera performance.