OnePlus 15 vs Pixel 10 Pro: Does brawn beat brains?

OnePlus has released the OnePlus 15, and it’s gunning for the Google Pixel 10 Pro’s status as the quintessential Android smartphone.

Not only has OnePlus taken a big step towards Google (and, let’s face it, everyone else) on design, but it’s packed its new flagship phone with several eyebrow-raising specifications.

All this, and it’s charging £150/$100 less for the OnePlus 15 than Google is for the Pixel 10 Pro. It’s looking like an easy win for the newcomer… or is it?

Do you care about gaming performance?

There’s no two ways about it, the OnePlus 15 absolutely blitzes the Pixel 10 Pro when it comes to raw power.

Google’s current flagship phone was already under fire for packing its custom Tensor G5 chip, which falls way short of the previous generation of Qualcomm-equipped rivals in CPU and GPU performance.

Now the OnePlus 15 is here as one of the first phones to pack the next-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, and it’s an absolute massacre. Right across the benchmarking board, the OnePlus 15 obliterates its rival. It’s not even close.

This already makes the OnePlus 15 a much better bet for gaming, but it doesn’t end there. OnePlus has also included a 6.78-inch 165Hz OLED display that’s bigger and smoother than its 6.3-inch/120Hz rival.

Not only that, but the OnePlus 15 also packs in a “Military-grade Gyro” for super-precise aiming on compatible games. This thing’s built for the gaming pros.

Winner: OnePlus 15

Do you care about battery life?

Perhaps raw gaming performance doesn’t matter to you, and you just want a phone that will get you through a day of heavy work, messaging, and media use.

In this department, too, the OnePlus 15 comes out top. And again, by quite some way.

This isn’t a knock on the Pixel 10 Pro, which in our testing scored about average for stamina. Its 4870mAh cell, combined with the new, smaller 3nm process used by the Tensor G5, means it can last a day and a half of normal use.

But the OnePlus 15 is on another level compared to pretty much everything else. OnePlus has packed it with a huge 7300mAh silicon carbon (Si-C) battery, which is 50% bigger than its rival.

Combined with efficiency gains elsewhere, it lasted about twice as long as the Pixel 10 in our regular mixed load-emulating battery test in PCMark for Android. In the real world, it can conceivably get you through three full days on a single charge.

That’s not even to mention the support for 120W wired charging (compared to 30W in the Pixel 10 Pro) and 50W wireless (vs 15W).

Although in the Pixel 10 Pro’s defence, it is the only mainstream Android phone to fully support Qi2 magnetic charging, which is very convenient.

Winner: Pixel 10 Pro

Do you care about clean, smart software?

If this were a straight spec face-off, or even a ‘value for money’ appraisal, the OnePlus 15 would clean up. But hardware is only half of the equation, with a phone’s software of equal importance.

And on that front, the Pixel 10 Pro hands out its own hiding. It doesn’t matter how fast and responsive OnePlus’s OxygenOS is (and it really is slick), it’s an uglier, lesser experience than Google’s stock Android 16.

Google’s OS is easier on the eye (OnePlus seems to prefer Apple’s iOS as an influence), more intuitive to use, and it’ll be supported for much longer. While Google offers a class-leading seven years of ongoing support, OnePlus can only muster four years of OS updates and six years of security updates.

Elsewhere, Google’s Gemini-infused UI is the smartest on the market, deeply infusing its peerless AI assistant into every area of the phone. Plus, you’ll get new versions of Android faster on the Pixel as well as exclusive features via Pixel Drops.

The OnePlus 15 has some cool new AI features, such as AI Relight and AI PlayLab, while the Plus Mind-powered Mind Space offers a neat AI-infused memo system. But even the latter is mainly notable for its Google Gemini implementation.

Winner: Pixel 10 Pro

Do you care about photography?

For a lot of people, the modern smartphone is as much a camera as it is a communication tool. If that’s you, and taking great pictures is an absolute priority, the Pixel 10 Pro is the better pick.

While we were slightly bummed out that the Pixel 10 Pro didn’t make any progress over the Pixel 9 Pro on the camera front, the OnePlus 15 actually rolls back on the OnePlus 13 provision.

All three of its rear sensors are smaller, and it can no longer count on Hasselblad’s colour tuning expertise.

That’s not to say that the OnePlus 15 is bad at taking pictures. The company’s new in-house DetailMax Engine does a great job of turning out speedy, snapping, sharp-looking images.

Are they better than before, though? It’s largely a matter of taste. Alex, our reviewer, prefers the processing decisions the OnePlus 15 makes over its predecessor. Personally, I prefer the richer and more natural tones captured by the OnePlus 13.

There’s no such equivocation with the Pixel 10 Pro’s camera. It’s flat-out better than before, thanks to improved processing and Google’s ever-evolving algorithms.

You also get Google’s peerless AI image editing tools, as well as the new Camera Coach feature that can help you become a better photographer in real time.

Winner: Pixel 10 Pro

OnePlus 15 vs Pixel 10 Pro: Conclusion

The OnePlus 15 blasts the Pixel 10 Pro out of the water in two of the ways that matter most – its outstanding performance and its extraordinary stamina. If you like to go hard with your phone, it’s clearly the better pick.

However, Google’s flagship phone has its own subtle strengths. Its software environment is better, with greater support, deeper AI smarts, and a generally cleaner UI. The Pixel 10 Pro also has a better camera system.

All in all, when you factor in the considerable £150/$100 price difference, the OnePlus 15 is the better buy for most people. It really is outstanding value for what it’s giving you.

But this is the perfect example of the value in looking at your own values and preferences before you analyse a new phone’s spec list. Depending on what you do with your phone in a typical day, the winner could vary.

Check out our full review of both phones as well as the latest prices: