iQOO 15 Review: A Powerhouse Flagship with Minor Drawbacks

After spending over a month with the iQOO 15, I can confidently say this is one of the most refined flagships released this year. While the OnePlus 15 has grabbed headlines, the iQOO 15 deserves attention for its impressive all-round capabilities and a few unique strengths.

Design and Build Quality

The iQOO 15 sports a sleek, modern design with subtle upgrades over its predecessor. The RGB light strip now sits around the camera module, making notifications easier to spot when the phone is face down. The frame features a matte finish that feels more comfortable in-hand compared to the glossy finish on earlier models. The flat frosted glass back provides a smooth grip, though it can be a bit slippery. iQOO bundles a premium soft silicone case, a welcome departure from the cheap transparent cases typically included with other phones. The phone also boasts IP68/69 water and dust resistance, excellent button feedback, and an infrared sensor for added convenience.

Display

The display is where the iQOO 15 truly shines. It features a 6.85-inch LTPO AMOLED panel sourced from Samsung, the same panel expected in the upcoming Galaxy S26 Ultra. This panel delivers an incredible 2600 nits of full-screen brightness and up to 6000 nits of peak brightness, making it outstanding for outdoor use and HDR content. The phone supports Dolby Vision for the first time in the iQOO lineup, and the ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is fast and responsive. While it lacks a dedicated anti-reflective coating, the pre-applied screen protector does an admirable job of reducing glare. Haptics are precise, and the stereo speakers produce rich, detailed sound once you switch the audio preset from “Smart” to “Music.”

Performance and Gaming

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, the iQOO 15 offers flagship-level performance. It is paired with up to 16GB of RAM, ultra-fast UFS 4.1 storage, iQOO’s custom Q3 graphics chip, and a massive 8000 mm² vapor chamber for effective heat dissipation. In gaming tests, the iQOO 15 runs cooler than the OnePlus 15, though the OnePlus still holds a slight edge in frame rates for certain titles. The iQOO 15 makes excellent use of its 144Hz display in popular games like BGMI and Mobile Legends.

Software Experience

iQOO has made significant strides on the software front with OriginOS 6. The company now promises 5 years of Android updates and 7 years of security patches, surpassing OnePlus’s commitment. The UI features redesigned visuals, smooth animations, and convenient tools like stacked notifications, Private Space, lockscreen customization, and Dynamic Island-style multitasking. Memory management is robust and on par with the OnePlus 15. However, the experience is marred by bloatware apps and unnecessary recommendations from Vivo’s app store, which detracts from an otherwise polished software experience.

Battery and Charging

The iQOO 15 houses a massive 7000 mAh silicon-carbon battery, though real-world battery life is not as impressive as expected, with screen-on time averaging around 9.5 hours. For comparison, the OnePlus 15 with its 7300 mAh battery can reach up to 12 hours. Charging speeds have been downgraded from 120W to 100W wired charging, but the addition of 40W wireless charging is a welcome first for the iQOO series. The phone continues to include a USB-PD charger, which is useful for charging other devices.

Camera

The iQOO 15’s camera setup is heavily inspired by Vivo’s flagship phones and is nearly identical to the Vivo X200, minus Zeiss optimizations and slightly narrower lenses. In daylight, the iQOO 15 produces more consistent photos across all lenses compared to the OnePlus 15, with excellent dynamic range, natural colors in the “Natural” preset, and strong detail retention. However, exposure can sometimes be off, the OnePlus offers better ultrawide detail in certain shots, and zoom beyond 3x on the iQOO can look overly digital. Portraits are generally impressive, though iQOO tends to smooth faces a bit too much. Selfies are preferable to the reddish tint seen on the OnePlus. Video performance is strong, particularly in stabilization and exposure control, though color tuning could be more natural and features like 4K 120fps are missing.

Verdict

The iQOO 15 is a genuinely underrated flagship that offers a premium design, a best-in-class display, superb performance, versatile cameras, and solid battery life. Its main drawbacks are software bloat and a higher-than-expected price. Starting at NPR 129,999, it matches the price of the OnePlus 15, which breaks from iQOO’s traditionally aggressive pricing strategy. While the device will not launch in Nepal like other iQOO phones, if you prioritize display quality and camera consistency, the iQOO 15 is a compelling alternative to the OnePlus 15.