The ~$560 OnePlus 15 is great and all, but I’d ditch it for this mid-ranger for under $370

Now, before you start bouncing off the walls over the aforementioned price tags of the brand-new super cool OnePlus 15 and OnePlus Ace 6 (~$560 and ~$365, respectively), let’s get one thing straight.

If you bite the bullet and decide to purchase a phone from China, it’ll come with Chinese ROM.

This means that the software is tuned for the Chinese market – no Google apps, a lot of local bloatware, and sometimes tricky setup if you don’t read Chinese. Updates might roll out faster, but they can also break global features or lack proper support for Western networks.

Global ROM phones, on the other hand, are built for plug-and-play convenience. They come with Google services, multilingual settings, and full support for global LTE and 5G bands. You pay a bit more, but you get peace of mind: cleaner software, regular updates, and less hassle out of the box. In short, Chinese ROMs are for tinkerers who don’t mind tweaking, while global ROMs are for people who just want their phone to work right away.

Having said that, if one does their homework – check specifications thoroughly and is prepared to see a Chinese symbol here in there in the UI – Chinese ROM phones can be the real deal. It all comes down to you and your needs, but if you feel like it’s too much of a risk for you, it’s best to wait for the global variant to roll out.

Why the OnePlus 15 doesn’t win my heart (but it’s great anyway)

Basically, I’d probably recommend the OnePlus 15 over any other Android right now for general use. This makes me sound a bit schizophrenic, so let’s talk things through.

Until our own PhoneArena review is up, not much about the phone can be said with certainty, but I’m using what OnePlus has said up until now. So, we have a gorgeous 6.78-inch 1.5K display, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset (give or take the best game in town right now), a stunning 7,300 mAh with blazing fast 120W charging speeds and a new telephoto that now offers 3.5x instead of 3x zoom.

True, the OnePlus 13 had a slightly larger (6.82-inch) 2K display, but that’s not of real concern to me. That’s because I happen to think that 1.5K is still a cool resolution for a phone.

Did I mention that the OnePlus 15 is also cheaper by some ~$70 than its predecessor?

So, how come I don’t like it?

Well, the OnePlus 15 has only one telephoto camera on its back. Call me spoiled, but I prefer having two of these, thank you very much. It’s not about symmetry. I just tend to prefer optical zoom to digital zoom. And a single 3.5x telephoto just doesn’t cut it.

That’s why, for me, there’s simply no reason to spend any amount of money on the OnePlus 15.

Yes, but what if I had to get a new phone right now?

The alternative: OnePlus Ace 6

What I’d do is I’d start hunting for smash deals (and I’d start saving money) for a cameraphone with two dedicated telephotos. Think of the Vivo X300 Ultra, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, or the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, for example.

In the meantime, I’d get myself an excellent brand-new phone for under ~$370 and with a battery larger than that of the OnePlus 15. Absolutely bonkers.

Enter the OnePlus Ace 6.

This is a monster of a mid-ranger that looks like it’s going to punch way above its price. It rocks a massive 6.83-inch AMOLED display with a silky 165Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, up to 16 GB of RAM, and as much as 1 TB of storage. The real jaw-dropper, though, is its 7,800mAh battery (paired with 120W charging, mind you) which could leave even flagship phones gasping for juice. On paper, this thing screams speed, endurance, and serious value.

Sure, it’s not as fancy as the OnePlus 15. You get two rear cameras instead of three, and the build is a touch less premium. But it’s still wrapped in aluminum and glass, and it uses the same powerful chip as the OnePlus 13, meaning performance won’t be an issue for anyone short of hardcore power users. In other words, the Ace 6 gives you flagship muscle without the flagship fuss.

And the kicker? It’s dirt cheap for what it offers. The base model starts at just 2,599 yuan (about $365 when directly converted) – and even the top-tier 1 TB version with 16 GB of RAM stays under $550. That’s insane value in a world where high-end phones now easily push past $1,000.

The way I see it is this: either way, I’m not getting the desired camera setup. So why not save some serious cash and get the Ace 6? It’s practically a flagship, just one that doesn’t cost a small fortune.