The OnePlus 15 has officially arrived as the brand’s newest flagship, bringing with it the expected upgrades—faster chipset, larger battery, improved charging speeds, and an even smoother display. But despite these predictable generational changes, the aspect that has generated the most debate is the rear camera system.
Ordinarily, each new OnePlus model brings an uptick in camera hardware. This time, however, the company has made an unexpectedly conservative choice. On paper, the OnePlus 15 appears to downgrade key components compared to the OnePlus 13. This has left many enthusiasts puzzled, especially considering the strides made in smartphone imaging in recent years.
But the company seems confident that software, not hardware, is the secret weapon this time. OnePlus recently ended its four-year collaboration with Hasselblad, leaving that partnership to Oppo. In its place, OnePlus is launching a new imaging direction with the DetailMax Engine—a revamped processing pipeline built around natural textures, less artificial over-processing, and improved tonal accuracy. The phone can also output 26MP images from its main and telephoto cameras by merging data from multiple 12MP exposures with a single 50MP frame. Combined with the power of the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, OnePlus promises dramatic improvements.
But how does the OnePlus 15 actually stack up against the OnePlus 13, especially when the older device has superior sensor hardware? The most contentious point is the main camera, so that’s where the comparison begins.
Main Camera Breakdown
The OnePlus 13 relied on the 50MP Sony LYT-808, a 1/1.4-inch sensor with 1.12 µm pixels and f/1.6 aperture—hardware strong enough to carry over from the OnePlus 12. The OnePlus 15, however, uses the smaller 50MP Sony IMX906 (LYT-700), a 1/1.56-inch sensor with 1.0 µm pixels and a narrower f/1.8 aperture. It’s the same hardware seen in the OnePlus 13R and 13s, which sparked disappointment among camera enthusiasts expecting a bigger leap.
On paper, it’s a downgrade. In real-world shooting, however, the differences become far more nuanced.
At the default 12.5MP output, the contrast between the two phones becomes immediately clear. The OnePlus 13 favors a punchier, high-contrast aesthetic, producing livelier images with more dramatic tonal separation. Leaves, shadows, and textures appear bolder, with the image popping noticeably more while still maintaining accurate exposure.
The OnePlus 15, armed with its new DetailMax philosophy, takes a decidedly more natural and subdued approach. Tonal transitions are smoother and less aggressive, making some scenes appear flatter or softer. Sharpening has been dialed back significantly, and edges blend more gently into one another. It avoids the “processed” feel, but in doing so, sometimes loses the dimensionality that made OnePlus 13’s images visually striking.
Color science has diverged as well. The OnePlus 13, with its Hasselblad-influenced palette, leaned heavily toward accuracy—though it often suffered from a faint magenta tint. The OnePlus 15 adopts warmer, punchier colors, possibly to compensate for its gentler processing. Its skies may lean bluer than reality, but at least they’re not purplish like those of the OnePlus 13.
Interestingly, the OnePlus 15 does fix some long-standing issues found on the OnePlus 13. Chromatic aberration around corners is reduced, and the system no longer glitches around power lines or fine structures—an odd artifact that occasionally plagued the older device. In these aspects, OnePlus 15 shows meaningful improvement.
However, despite all of its software finesse, the OnePlus 15 simply cannot escape physics. A larger sensor with a wider aperture captures more light—plain and simple. The OnePlus 13’s hardware advantage results in cleaner shadows, less noise, and more natural detail. While the OnePlus 15 tries to compensate with noise reduction, this leads to softer textures and a sometimes hazier appearance, especially around the frame edges.
This difference becomes even more obvious when examining RAW files. With all processing stripped away, the OnePlus 13 surges ahead, offering significantly higher detail retention and noticeably lower noise levels. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 15 struggles to match it, revealing the limitations of its smaller sensor.
In the end, the OnePlus 15’s image philosophy is admirable—natural, realistic, and processing-light—but it cannot fully counter the advantages of the OnePlus 13’s stronger camera hardware. The DetailMax Engine brings interesting changes and some meaningful fixes, yet the gap in pure detail and shadow quality remains.
