OnePlus 15 review in Malaysia – TechNave's flagship of the year?

The OnePlus 15 has officially arrived as one of the most performance-focused flagships of the year. True to OnePlus tradition, this phone is a great fit for those who want speed, excellent gaming capabilities, long battery life, and a smooth software experience.

After looking through its features and real-world behaviour, here are our honest thoughts on the OnePlus 15.

 

Design – A classic metallic finish

Design-wise. The device feels solid in the hand, though it is slightly heavier due to the large battery inside. We are huge fans of the classic metallic-black look, so that’s a plus in our books. Its 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display supports a high refresh rate of 165Hz, giving you ultra-smooth scrolling and gaming.

Besides that, the screen’s brightness is strong enough for outdoor use, and it supports HDR formats for richer video playback. It is easily one of the best displays this year in terms of fluidity and responsiveness. The phone might be a bit too heavy for our liking. But honestly, the positives offset the negatives.

We are in love with the clean black metallic finish

The camera island has a unique look

The volume and power buttons are located on the right side of the phone

As expected, the SIM and charging port are placed on the bottom panel

Clean and simple

Easy to hold too

  

Tech Specs and Features

• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (3 nm)
• CPU: Octa-core (up to 4.608 GHz peak performance core)
• GPU: Adreno 840
• RAM and Storage: Up to 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB UFS 4.1 storage
• OS: Android 16 with OxygenOS 16
• Battery: 7300 mAh, 120W wired charging (global), 80W wired (US), 50W wireless charging, reverse wireless charging
• Display: 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED, 2772 x 1272 pixels (1.5K), 165Hz refresh rate, 1800 nits peak brightness, 1.07 billion colours
• Rear camera: 50 MP main (f/1.8, OIS), 50 MP ultra wide (f/2.0), 50 MP periscope telephoto (f/2.8, 3.5x optical zoom, OIS)
• Front camera: 32 MP (wide)

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the OnePlus 15 has no trouble handling heavy multitasking, high frame rate games, or content creation apps. The OxygenOS 16 brings a clean interface with fast animations and some useful AI tools built directly into the system. These include text summarisation, screen content extraction, writing assistance, and note-taking enhancements.

Moreover, the touch response is fast, animations stay smooth, and overall performance feels consistent even during long gaming sessions, thanks to an improved cooling system. Combined with OxygenOS 16, the phone feels snappy and polished. UI-wise, we love how simple and easy it is to manoeuvre the layout. The phone is pretty well optimised and lacks the typical bloatware. So, that’s another positive you should keep in mind.

The UI is easy to understand and configure

Better than ChatGPT?

The display is pretty good even under low light

When it comes to the AI aspect of this phone, we found that OnePlus Mind Space is pretty savvy with planning, summarising notes, organising ideas, and everyday productivity. It can save content like notes or screenshots for more personalised responses, and you can opt for the Google AI Pro trial for enhanced features. Overall, the experience is nice, smooth, and we are very satisfied with it.

 

Performance

Performance-wise, this phone maxed out on the Wild Life test, scored 26437 points on the Wild Life Unlimited test, and 6337 points on the Wild Life Extreme Test in the 3D Mark app. That makes the phone better than 99% percent of the phones in the market. Besides that, the phone scored 3598 for the single-core test and 10971 for the multicore test. That’s a very solid score for a flagship, and we believe the real-life performance of this device justifies it.

Very strong showing

 

We like these numbers

As recorded on GeekBench 6

Gaming-wise, we are huge fans of how smooth the gameplay feels on this phone. Needless to say, it did help us perform better on multiple gaming sessions. Leading us to a few consecutive wins on Mobile Legends. Playing Genshin Impact on this device also feels very satisfying. Movements and combat in this game feel fluid.

Graphic-wise, we feel the phone has performed excellently. Even on the highest settings, the stuttering and pixelated images were noticeable, but it doesn’t really affect your gameplay as the effect is quite negligible. Even on Asphalt Legends, there were barely any artefacts during our playing sessions.

Gameplay feels crisp and responsive

Performance so good, it helped us to a win streak

No graphic hiccups

Excellent

Sharp visuals in Asphalt Legend

Barely any visual artefacts

Overheating is a minor issue for this phone

As you can expect, the phone does feel warm after long gaming hours. Not to the extent of being hot and causing discomfort, but it is something you should keep in mind for sustained high-performance tasks.

One of the biggest highlights here is the massive 7,300mAh silicon-carbon battery. For many users, this means one and a half days of normal use without charging and a full day of gaming, streaming, and social apps. When you do need to charge, the 120W wired charger gets it back to full quickly, while 50W wireless charging gives solid convenience. In short, battery life is one of the strongest reasons to get this phone.

The OnePlus 15 comes with a triple 50MP setup consisting of a main sensor, an ultrawide lens, and a periscope telephoto that offers optical zoom and clearer long-range shots. The camera performs well in daylight, colours look natural, and zoom performance is surprisingly good for its class. Video performance is also solid with support for high frame rate recording.

Impressive results

The colour and result feel quite natural

Good amount of details on Portrait mode

Great for capturing iconic scenes and views

Even on a cloudy day, the camera doesn’t disappoint

The selfie camera is great 

However, while the system is versatile, it may not compete directly with the best camera-centric flagships. Low-light tuning and portrait processing can still improve. For everyday users, the camera is good, but photography enthusiasts may want to manage expectations. The camera performed well in bright daylight and even did well under low-light settings. However, nighttime photography is where the phone shows its flaws. The noise and glare were noticeable, especially for moving objects.

Regardless, the phone still has very capable cameras. With the right tweaks, you might be able to create some magic. But for its price, you could be forgiven for expecting more.

We like the colouration for the night mode

The camera performed well under low-light settings

Sweet

Looking good

Decent colours for night-time photography

When done right, it did capture good details

It takes some tweaking to get the best result

Noticeable glare and noise

Moving objects can be hard to capture

 

 

Conclusion

If your priority is photography above everything else, other models may suit you better. But if you want a powerful and well-balanced flagship with one of the best battery performances in 2025, this is the phone for you.

Now here comes the million-dollar question: Is the OnePlus15 worth the splurge? The answer is a resounding yes. Given its performance, tech specs and future-proof capabilities, we believe this is the best flagship for 2025. Alternatively, OPPO Find X9 Pro (RM4999) and Apple iPhone 17 Pro (RM5499) offer the same, if not an almost similar value to the OnePlus 15. We would also recommend the OPPO Find X9 (RM3699) if you are looking for a more wallet-friendly option.

 

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