OnePlus 15 Leak: Unexpected Price Cut Ahead of Launch
It’s just a £50 (around $67) drop from the OnePlus 13’s launch price—but for a flagship smartphone, that’s still a rare win for consumers.
A credible leak reveals the OnePlus 15, packing 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, will retail for $1,270 (approximately £949) in the UK. To put that in perspective: it’s like snagging a small discount from a U.S. electronics retailer—modest, but notable—especially when you compare it to the OnePlus 13, which launched at $1,333 (£999).
Flagships almost never get cheaper than their predecessors, especially now, when big brands like Apple and Samsung keep hiking prices. This small cut makes the OnePlus 15 stand out before it even hits shelves.
Confirmed Top-Tier Specs and a Near Launch Date
The OnePlus 15 5G’s price news came from well-known leaker Arsène Lupin (@MysteryLupin) on X (formerly Twitter). But this isn’t the first detail to surface: the phone is already confirmed to run on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. OnePlus co-founder Pete Lau even took the stage recently to announce the brand is among the first to use this new processor—a big selling point for performance-focused buyers.
At that same event, OnePlus also showed off the phone’s design. They revealed a black variant and stuck with the square 2×2 camera layout first seen on the OnePlus 13 T/13S, ditching any plans to go back to a circular camera bump. Earlier leaks also hint at titanium and pink color options, suggesting new material choices for users who want something beyond basic black.
Official teasers on Weibo (China’s equivalent of Twitter) fill in more gaps: the OnePlus 15 will have a 165Hz refresh-rate display, run ColorOS 16 (based on Android 16) in China, and use OxygenOS for global models. It’ll also pack a massive 7,300 mAh battery.
As for launch day? Mark your calendars: it’s set to debut in China on October 27—just days away, on a Monday. The global launch (including the U.S.) is expected to follow in mid-November.
OnePlus 15 Swaps 2K for 1.5K Display—Here’s Why
OnePlus also used its official Weibo account to tease the OnePlus 15’s upgraded camera system. The post confirmed the phone will use Oppo’s Lumo Condensed Light Imaging tech, which boosts contrast (think deeper shadows and brighter highlights) and makes colors look more realistic.
Photography fans will also get a 50MP triple-camera setup, including a 3.5x telephoto lens (85mm equivalent) perfect for portraits. It’ll support 4K 120fps Dolby Vision video, Pro XDR, and an ultra-clear Live Photo mode—features that rival top-tier iPhones and Galaxies.
Now, the catch: the screen resolution is dropping from 2K (the OnePlus 13’s standard) to 1.5K. Li Jie Louis, President of OnePlus China, explained why this isn’t a downgrade in disguise: a 165Hz refresh rate makes the phone feel significantly smoother and faster, but current display technology can’t handle both 2K resolution and 165Hz without major trade-offs—like shorter battery life, more overheating, or a less stable screen. So 1.5K, he says, is the “sweet spot.”
Getting 1.5K to work at 165Hz was no small feat, either. To visualize: a 165Hz display refreshes 165 times per second, and each refresh requires lighting up every pixel. A 1.5K screen has roughly 4.6 million pixels—meaning the phone has to update 4.6 million × 165 = about 759 million pixels every second.
And despite the resolution shift, the OnePlus 15’s display is actually more expensive than the OnePlus 13’s 2K panel. It uses new luminous materials, upgraded circuits, better chips, and advanced driver tech—all to deliver faster pixel response times and more accurate colors. So while it’s not 2K, it’s still a step up in quality.
