(Credit: OnePlus)
The OnePlus 15T is now official with a huge battery, top-end chipset, and lots of RAM, but it’s unlikely you’ll be able to buy one in the US.
A reveal in China, OnePlus' home market, comes amid fresh doubts about whether the brand will continue to release phones in international markets, potentially signaling the end of OnePlus in the US. The OnePlus 15T takes a lot of what made the OnePlus 15 a great phone and distills it into a cheaper package. There’s a remarkably large 7,500mAh battery powering the whole thing, larger than the OnePlus 15’s generous 7,300mAh cell.
It comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, and the choice of either 12GB or 16GB of RAM. OnePlus includes two 50MP cameras on the back and offers 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage.
In China, the phone costs CNY 4,299 (about $623). If it launched in the US, you should expect a higher price than that, but it’d still be lower than the $899.99 starting price of the OnePlus 15.
Winding Down to Focus on China?
There are two reasons we don't expect to see this on sale in the US. First, the brand chose not to release the OnePlus 13T in either the US or Europe. And there have been rumors of a shutdown of OnePlus's international operations.
OnePlus has denied that. However, two reports this week suggest something is changing. In a now-deleted X post, leaker Yogesh Brar claimed to have heard from sources that OnePlus is beginning to wind down in other markets to focus on China and low-end phone releases in India.
9to5Google also reported that a source “familiar with the behind-the-scenes” at OnePlus corroborated Brar's report. The publication’s source said select staff have been informed of the decision, but an exact timeline remains unclear.
OnePlus India CEO Robin Liu also left the company earlier this week and returned home to China. Liu was one of the key voices claiming OnePlus would continue business as usual amid similar reports of an international shutdown back in January.
OnePlus pushed back on Brar's report, with a spokesperson telling Tech Advisor on Monday that its European business operations are continuing as normal. It also told 9to5Google that "OnePlus India operations continue with local strategy and business continuity ensured."
If OnePlus were to leave the US phone market, it’d mean fewer options for those who want a phone not made by Apple, Google, or Samsung. Only time will tell what OnePlus has in store next, but you shouldn't wait for a US release of the OnePlus 15T.