OnePlus 15R launching in India this week as the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 phone

OnePlus is expanding its premium lineup in India with the OnePlus 15R launch on December 17th. The phone will be the first in the country (and in the world) to pack Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset, placing it in sub-flagship territory.

The OnePlus 15R, which will launch alongside the OnePlus Pad Go 2, follows on the lines of the OnePlus 15, which came to India in November. You can watch the 15R launch event live here, which will begin at 7 pm on December 17th.

OnePlus hasn’t disclosed official prices yet, but leaks point at a higher starting price than the predecessor, the OnePlus 13R. Not only does this reflect upgraded hardware, but it also resonates with the larger trend of increasing smartphone prices across segments.

According to a tipster, the base model of the OnePlus 15R with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage may cost between Rs 47,000 and Rs 49,000 in India. There will also be a higher variant with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage, with its price over Rs 52,000. These tipped prices are excluding bank offers, which means the effective price could be lower by Rs 3,000 – Rs 4,000 with card discounts. The phone will go on sale via Amazon, the OnePlus India online store, and third-party online and offline retail channels.

If these prices are true, the OnePlus 15R would be significantly dearer than the OnePlus 13R, which debuted earlier this year at Rs 42,999. The increase, however, seems to be in line with current market trends. Rising memory costs and costlier chipsets have already increased prices across flagship and upper mid-range phones among all brands, and this comes as no surprise.

Minimal but durable design

The design of the OnePlus 15R seems to largely echo that of the OnePlus Ace 6T, which launched in China earlier this month. In fact, the 15R is said to be the global version of the Ace 6T. Marketing images of the OnePlus 15R reveal a square rear camera module housing two sensors and an LED flash, with the OnePlus logo centred on the back. There is a metal frame running around the phone, along with power and volume buttons on the right, and a Plus Key on the left.

OnePlus has also confirmed IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K ratings, much like the OnePlus 15. That gives you strong protection against dust, water immersion and even high-pressure water jets. The phone will be offered in Charcoal Black and Minty Green colour options.

Smooth and fluid display

The OnePlus 15R will boast a 1.5K AMOLED display with a refresh rate of 165Hz, just like the flagship OnePlus 15. Although OnePlus has not shared the full panel specs yet, the Ace 6T serves as a good reference point. It has a 6.83-inch AMOLED screen in FHD+ resolution, up to 1,800 nits peak brightness, a 330Hz touch sampling rate, and full DCI-P3 colour coverage. In case the Indian variant is similar, the 15R would offer a strong display for gamers and users who appreciate smooth scrolling and responsive touch input.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 makes its India debut

At its core, the OnePlus 15R will have Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, fabricated on the 3nm process. This automatically makes it the most potent chip to be present by an R-series device. The phone popped up on Geekbench with 12GB of RAM, scoring 2,784 points in single-core and 9,329 points in multi-core tests. The listing reveals two prime cores that are clocked at 3.80GHz and six performance cores running at up to 3.32GHz.

In India, the phone will run OxygenOS 16 based on Android 16. OnePlus has confirmed that technologies introduced with the OnePlus 15 like the G2 Wi-Fi chip and a dedicated Touch Response Chip, will make their way to the 15R.

Cameras get an upgrade and downgrade both

The OnePlus 15R seems to have downgraded in terms of the number of cameras in the rear setup. While the 13R featured a 50MP+50MP+8MP setup, the OnePlus 15R is tipped to come with a 50MP primary camera and an 8MP ultra-wide shooter, much like the Ace 6T. The 15R misses out on the telephoto camera which the 13R had.

On the front, OnePlus has confirmed a 32MP selfie camera, calling it the most advanced front camera on an R-series device. It comes with support for autofocus, a first in the lineup, and is capable of shooting 4K video at 30fps. By comparison, the OnePlus 13R came with a 16MP front camera.