OnePlus 15 Global Launch Today: 7,300mAh ‘Marathon’ Battery, No Magnets, and a New Direction for the Brand

The OnePlus 15 is stepping onto the global stage today, and it’s doing so with a very loud flex: an enormous 7,300mAh battery, 120W charging, a 165Hz display, and a bold decision to skip built‑in magnetic charging altogether. At the same time, OnePlus is quietly reinventing itself with flatter, tougher hardware and an AI‑first software experience that has fans split over whether the company has “lost its way” or finally grown up. ^[1]

Below is everything you need to know about today’s OnePlus 15 global launch — from how to watch the livestream to the big magnets‑vs‑battery controversy and what this phone says about OnePlus in 2025.

How to watch the OnePlus 15 global launch today

OnePlus is hosting its global OnePlus 15 keynote today, 13 November 2025, with India as one of the first major markets to get the device.

Launch date: 13 November 2025
Launch time: 7:00 PM IST (India)
Where to watch: The keynote is being streamed on the OnePlus YouTube channel and the brand’s regional websites (including OnePlus India). ^[2]
India sale time: Open sale is scheduled to start around 8:00 PM IST in India, just an hour after the event. ^[3]

Sites across India and beyond — including Business Standard, The Hans India, GadgetBridge and ProPakistani — are treating this as a global launch, not a regional sideshow, with early‑bird offers and trade‑in bonuses already teased in some markets. ^[4]

OnePlus 15 specs and features at a glance

Thanks to the earlier China launch and pre‑briefings, most of the specs are already confirmed — and crucially, the global model keeps the same monster battery and fast charging. ^[5]

Core hardware

Display: 6.78‑inch LTPO AMOLED panel, 1.5K resolution, up to 165Hz refresh rate and around 1,800 nits in high‑brightness mode. Bezels are trimmed down to about 1.15mm on all sides. ^[6]
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, built on a 3nm process and tuned for high‑end gaming and AI workloads. ^[7]
RAM & storage: 12GB or 16GB LPDDR5X, with 256GB, 512GB or 1TB UFS 4.1 storage depending on market. ^[8]
Battery: 7,300mAh silicon‑carbon cell with 120W wired and 50W wireless charging (regional differences apply to the bundled brick). ^[9]
Cameras: Triple 50MP rear setup (main + ultra‑wide + telephoto) plus a 32MP selfie camera. ^[10]

OnePlus claims the battery is engineered to retain over 80% capacity after four years and stay operational down to –20 °C — an increasingly relevant promise as phones become AI‑heavy and power‑hungry. ^[11]

The phone also supports bypass charging, letting it run directly from the charger during intense gaming sessions to reduce battery wear. ^[12]

On durability, the OnePlus 15 goes all‑in with IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K ratings, which means protection not just from dust and immersion, but also from high‑pressure water jets — unusually comprehensive even by flagship standards. ^[13]

Magnets vs marathon battery: OnePlus’s bold trade‑off

One of the most talked‑about decisions ahead of launch has nothing to do with megapixels or refresh rates. It’s about magnets.

Unlike Google’s Pixels and Apple’s MagSafe‑equipped iPhones, the OnePlus 15 does not build a ring of Qi2/ MagSafe‑style magnets into the phone’s chassis for magnetic wireless charging and snap‑on accessories. ^[14]

At a recent briefing, OnePlus product marketing manager Rudolf Xu explained that the team chose not to integrate magnets because they:

add noticeable weight and thickness, and
occupy internal space that OnePlus wanted to reserve for that 7,300mAh battery. ^[15]

In other words, you can’t have everything: a massive cell, wireless coil and a thick ring of magnets in the same slim body without sacrificing something. OnePlus’s choice was to lean hard into battery endurance and comfort in hand, even if that means relying on accessories for magnet tricks.

Instead of building magnets into the frame, OnePlus is pushing magnetic cases that snap to car mounts, desk stands and higher‑speed proprietary chargers — a workaround similar to Samsung’s “Qi2‑ready” case strategy on recent Galaxy phones. ^[16]

This trade‑off has become a talking point for reviewers and analysts: WebProNews framed it as a classic tug‑of‑war between “accessory ecosystems and core performance metrics,” while TechRadar notes that the 7,300mAh pack is roughly 22–40% larger than the batteries in the OnePlus 13, Pixel 10 Pro XL and many iPhone 17 models. ^[17]

If you live in magnetic‑mount world (car holders, wallets, snap‑on batteries), you’ll need a case. If you just want your phone to last forever away from a charger, OnePlus is betting you’ll see this as a win.

A tougher, flatter OnePlus: new design language, no Hasselblad

Visually, the OnePlus 15 marks a clean break from the curvy, circular‑camera era of older models.

Editorials like PhoneArena’s “Everyone says OnePlus lost its way, but I say it finally found it” argue that the new design is less “flashy flagship killer” and more mature premium phone — and that’s the whole point. ^[18]

Key design changes:

Flat frame: Gone are the swooping edges; in their place is a flat metal chassis (on some variants using an aerospace‑grade nano‑ceramic alloy) that OnePlus claims is dramatically harder than titanium or stainless steel, and more practical to protect. ^[19]
New camera housing: The oversized circular island is replaced with a more restrained, rectangular module. Many reviewers feel this alone makes the phone look more professional and less “gamer toy.” ^[20]
Colors: Expect shades like Sand Storm (beige/titanium‑like), Absolute/Infinite Black, and Misty/Ultra Violet purple, depending on market. ^[21]

On the camera front, OnePlus is ending its multi‑year collaboration with Hasselblad and debuting its in‑house DetailMax Engine instead. The phone uses triple 50MP sensors — including an upgraded IMX906 main sensor and a 3.5x telephoto — with multi‑frame processing that merges multiple lower‑resolution exposures with a 50MP shot to output roughly 26MP images. ^[22]

Some long‑time fans see the loss of the Hasselblad branding and the more iPhone‑like silhouette as proof that OnePlus has “sold out.” Commentators like Aleksandar Anastasov at PhoneArena, however, argue that this is the kind of polished design language a brand needs if it wants to compete seriously with Apple, Samsung and Google, rather than live forever as a niche rebel. ^[23]

AI at the center: Plus Key, Plus Mind and OxygenOS 16

If the hardware story is “bigger battery, flatter body,” the software story is “AI everywhere.”

The Plus Key

The OnePlus 15 replaces the much‑loved alert slider with a new Plus Key, a contextual, programmable button tied deeply into OxygenOS 16’s AI layer. ^[24]

Instead of only switching sound profiles, the Plus Key can:

launch custom routines,
trigger specific camera modes or apps,
or pull up AI‑assisted actions in context (for example, summarizing what’s on screen or starting a workout routine). ^[25]

That’s cold comfort if you loved blindly flicking the slider in your pocket, but it does align with OnePlus’s pitch that this is now an AI‑first flagship.

Plus Mind and Gemini

OnePlus is also leaning on Google’s AI stack: “Mind Space” (also called Plus Mind in some materials) acts as a private locker where the phone can save on‑screen content and user snippets. That info is then shared — with permission — with Google Gemini, creating what OnePlus calls “the industry’s first personalized AI with Gemini” on a smartphone. ^[26]

In practical terms, that means the phone can:

remember what you’ve been reading or viewing,
combine that with Gemini’s live internet access, and
surface tailored suggestions or automations without you manually feeding it context every time. ^[27]

OxygenOS 16: smart, but a bit too iOS‑ish?

OxygenOS 16 keeps the snappy, minimal feeling that OnePlus fans like, but adds a “Liquid Glass” style UI, categorized app drawer and more dynamic wallpapers — design cues that many commentators note are clearly inspired by iOS 16/17’s direction. ^[28]

The consensus so far:

Good: Still one of the fastest Android skins around, with thoughtful organization and powerful AI hooks.
Concern: If OnePlus leans too far into imitation, it risks losing the unique identity that drew enthusiasts in the first place. ^[29]

Gaming and performance: built to run hot — but stay cool

Beyond the raw power of Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, OnePlus is making a big deal out of sustained performance rather than just benchmark spikes.

Pre‑launch briefings and coverage highlight: ^[30]

A new Glacier cooling system using ultra‑thin steel, a redesigned vapor chamber and a space‑grade aerogel layer to keep both the SoC and the frame cooler during long gaming sessions.
A G2 gaming network chip for more stable connections and a console‑grade gyroscope for better motion controls.
Support for up to 165fps gameplay in certain titles, matched to the 165Hz display, plus a dedicated touch‑response chip pushing touch sampling into the thousands of hertz.

Combined with bypass charging, the message is clear: the OnePlus 15 wants to be the gaming‑friendly slab that doesn’t cook your hands or your battery.

Global vs China model: what’s actually different?

The OnePlus 15 first launched in China on October 27, and global fans have spent weeks worrying about “downgrades” in international variants. ^[31]

Here’s where things stand today:

Battery & charging: Android Authority confirms that the 7,300mAh battery, 120W wired charging and 50W wireless charging make it to the global model. In the US, the phone reportedly tops out at 80W wired charging, likely due to regional safety or certification constraints. ^[32]
Display: The global unit keeps the 6.78‑inch 1.5K 165Hz LTPO panel, matching what we saw at the Chinese launch. ^[33]
Durability & cooling: IP ratings, cooling hardware and tri‑chip design appear consistent across regions, including the India and European launches. ^[34]

Pricing is still the big unknown as the keynote begins. Early reporting suggests the phone undercuts some rivals in China but may be priced closer to traditional flagships in the US and Europe, where taxes, distribution and different battery tech rules apply. ^[35]

Has OnePlus really ‘lost its way’ — or did it finally grow up?

The OnePlus 15 has become a Rorschach test for smartphone fans.

On one side:

The alert slider is gone.
The Hasselblad logo is gone.
The design is flatter, boxier, and arguably more generic, while OxygenOS picks up UI ideas from Apple. ^[36]

On the other:

You get one of the largest batteries in a mainstream flagship.
Charging and durability specs outclass much of the competition.
AI features are forward‑looking and deeply integrated, not just slapped on. ^[37]

PhoneArena’s editorial makes a compelling point: for years, “Never Settle” meant undercutting the big players on price while shouting about specs. In 2025, it may instead mean matching them on polish, build quality and long‑term support, even if that disappoints some nostalgia‑driven fans. ^[38]

Who is the OnePlus 15 for?

If you:

care more about battery life, gaming performance and toughness than having magnets baked into your phone,
like the idea of AI shortcuts and a smart hardware key,
and want something that doesn’t feel like a prototype but a finished, confident flagship,

the OnePlus 15 looks like one of the most interesting Android phones of late 2025. If, however, you mourn the quirky underdog days of sandstone backs and wild camera rings, this launch might feel like the end of an era.

Either way, today’s global event makes one thing clear: OnePlus no longer wants to be “that fast phone the geeks like.” It wants to be the battery‑first, AI‑heavy, mainstream flagship you seriously cross‑shop with Galaxy, Pixel and iPhone — magnets be damned.

ONEPLUS 15 vs iPhone 17 Pro Max vs Xiaomi 17 Pro Max - BATTERY DRAIN TEST!