OnePlus teased its newest flagship phone, the OnePlus 15, at today’s Snapdragon Summit China, revealing two key pieces of information. The new handheld will be powered by the brand-new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, and it will feature a new camera system that ditches Hasselblad’s engineering and participation.
OnePlus 15 is an interesting model name choice, since there was never a OnePlus 14. PetaPixel reviewed the OnePlus 13 in January, describing it — and its Hasselblad camera system — as fantastic. “4” is an unlucky number in Chinese culture, so OnePlus, a Chinese brand, has opted to skip “14” altogether.
The OnePlus 15 will feature OnePlus’ brand new camera engine, dubbed the “DetailMax Engine.” While precise specifications remain a mystery, OnePlus has shared that its new imaging platform is designed for “capturing moments the way you remember them. Clear, natural, real.” The company argues that this is not achieved by “stacking specs or adding the biggest lens,” but by combining strong hardware and intelligent software.
For the past five years, OnePlus has realized its photography ambitions with an external partner: Hasselblad. It has been a productive relationship and has helped OnePlus deliver very competitive imaging performance.
“We fine-tuned colors until they felt like real life, debated endlessly over the right shade of blue, and spent nights in the lab chasing the perfect balance of light and shadow,” OnePlus says of its work with Hasselblad. “Together, we helped millions capture moments exactly as they remembered them.”
However, despite these years being what OnePlus calls a “masterclass,” the company says it is time to move on and enter the “next phase of our imaging evolution.”
To that end, OnePlus is developing its own in-house imaging engine, DetailMax Engine, that it argues will “reveal [the world] in entirely real and clear ways,” hopefully pointing toward a relatively minimal reliance on generative AI that has been popping up in many Android smartphones over the past couple of years. OnePlus has long emphasized authenticity in its imaging, and this emphasis appears to remain unchanged with the transition to a new photography system.
“Our users want images that are clear and real,” the Chinese smartphone maker says. “Our camera will set a new standard for clarity in its class.”
The OnePlus 15’s camera specifications are still largely unknown at this point, but its new DetailMax Engine will at least feature a 32-megapixel front camera with autofocus and a customized Sony image sensor. OnePlus has long utilized Sony image sensors for its camera systems, so it would not be surprising at all for the rear cameras to use Sony IMX imagers.
OnePlus also revealed that the OnePlus 15’s new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile platform will be paired with a 7,300 mAh battery, the largest ever in a OnePlus phone. The phone will feature new display technology with 40% smaller bezels and a refresh rate of up to 165Hz for select mobile games. It is the first Android device to date to feature always-on 120 fps gameplay.
The OnePlus 15 is set to launch in China at the end of October and will arrive globally, including in the United States, just a few weeks later on November 13. OnePlus phones typically take months to launch in the U.S., so this is a welcome change of pace. PetaPixel has long lauded OnePlus phones for their Hasselblad-infused camera systems, so it will be very interesting to see if OnePlus’ confidence in its new internal imaging solution is well placed.