OnePlus built the perfect Android phone in 2025. The OnePlus 16 is throwing it all away

A couple of weeks ago, OnePlus confirmed it was winding down business operations in North America and Europe, confirming longstanding rumors we’d been hearing for months. It’s a devastating blow to markets like the US that are already starved for smartphone choices, but it’s the harsh reality we find ourselves in.

However, OnePlus isn’t completely dead. While it may no longer serve the US, Canada, and Europe, it’s still fully operational in other parts of the world. And recently, OnePlus gave us our first tease of its next flagship smartphone: the OnePlus 16.

Based on what we now know about the phone, one thing is crystal clear. After creating a virtually flawless Android flagship in 2025 with the OnePlus 13, OnePlus has no intention of repeating that success. Instead, it would rather keep making the same mistakes and creating flagships that represent a shell of the company’s former self.

What made the OnePlus 13 so special

OnePlus has released so many excellent smartphones over the years, but I truly think the OnePlus 13 will go down in history as the phone that brought together all the company’s previous efforts into one nearly-perfect package. OnePlus flagships have always come close to matching their Samsung/Google/Apple counterparts, but the OnePlus 13 was the first to feel like it outdid them all.

If you’ve ever used the OnePlus 13, you’ll know that this wasn’t due to a single specification. Instead, it was because of how the whole phone came together as a complete package.

Part of it was the OnePlus 13’s design. The blue faux leather back paired with the silver camera housing remains one of the most handsome-looking Android phones I’ve seen. Despite having a large 6.82-inch display, well-balanced internals, a flat frame, and ever-so-slightly curved screen edges made the OnePlus 13 a supremely comfortable smartphone.

In typical OnePlus fashion, performance was outstanding, too. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Snapdragon 8 Elite is still a capable chip in mid-2026, but OnePlus’s software optimizations make the OnePlus 13 feel faster and smoother than some 2026 flagships I’ve used. And that’s to say nothing of the 6,000mAh battery or 80W wired charging, both of which handily outperform Samsung and Google’s latest flagships.

What tied all of this together is that OnePlus delivered on its longstanding performance promises while also offering a legitimately fantastic camera experience. The sensors were all technically great, but what really sold me on the OnePlus 13’s photography was its approach to colors. Photos from the OnePlus 13 had a distinct style with ample contrast, bold color choices, and more. Paired with excellent and unique shooting modes, the OnePlus 13 is one of those phones that made me excited to take photos with it.

And, of course, the price was just the cherry on top. When it launched at $900 in January 2025, the OnePlus 13 would go on to handily undercut the $1,200 Pixel 10 Pro XL and $1,3000 Galaxy S25 Ultra while arguably being a better phone than both. No matter how you sliced it, the OnePlus 13 excelled in basically every category. There’s a reason we named it Android Authority‘s best phone of 2025, and it looked like OnePlus’s best days were only ahead.

The OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 16 strategy

Unfortunately, we couldn’t have been more wrong.

The OnePlus 15 succeeded the OnePlus 13 less than a year after its US release, and on paper, it looked fantastic. It had a newer and faster Snapdragon chip, a monstrous 7,300mAh battery, faster 120W charging in some markets, a smoother 165Hz refresh rate, and the same $900 starting price. What wasn’t to like? As it turns out, quite a lot.

The biggest fault of the OnePlus 15 was its re-shifted priorities. OnePlus has always been big on delivering impressive spec sheets and fast performance, but the points were really emphasized on the OnePlus 15. The OnePlus 13 was special because it delivered enthusiast-grade specifications without sacrificing the rest of the experience. But not so with the OnePlus 15.

The display is a good example of this. The OnePlus 15 downgraded the OnePlus 13’s display from a 2K panel to a 1.5K one in order to support a maximum 165Hz refresh rate — a feature you can only use in a handful of compatible mobile games. The 15’s new design was arguably more broadly appealing, but it also lost all the character and charm of the 13. The increased battery capacity was nice, but it came at the expense of downgraded camera sensors across the board, leading to a noticeable dip in image quality. Even the vibration motor, a quiet highlight of the OnePlus 13, was replaced with a lower-quality one on the 15.

While the 15 wasn’t a complete failure, it completely lost the delicate balance OnePlus struck with the 13. OnePlus didn’t market the OnePlus 15 as a gaming phone, but the changes it made — downgrading cameras, design, and lifestyle features in order to deliver over-the-top display and power specs — sure made it feel like one.

And it looks like that’s the path OnePlus is continuing on with the OnePlus 16.

While talking about the OnePlus 16 at a recent Snapdragon event, OnePlus confirmed a few important details about its upcoming phone: it’ll bring back the 165Hz refresh rate, a new triple-chip design (likely including the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro), and will focus on delivering “phenomenal gaming performance.” Previous rumors have also suggested OnePlus is doubling down even harder on the battery front, potentially going all the way up to a 9,000mAh cell.

This sounds like precisely the same playbook OnePlus used for the OnePlus 15: putting all of its attention on performance and battery size for a great gaming experience, and then worrying about everything else. For hardcore gamers, that might sound like music to your ears. But as someone who cherished the OnePlus 13 for its ability to deliver a true flagship experience for all types of users, I couldn’t be more disappointed.

OnePlus has changed, and not for the better

Ultimately, I shouldn’t be surprised by OnePlus’s decision-making here. The OnePlus 15 showed us precisely where OnePlus’s ambitions now lie, and if what we know about the OnePlus 16 is any indication, those ambitions aren’t changing.

While none of this matters for people like me in the US, since the OnePlus 16 won’t be sold here anyway, it’s still difficult as a longtime OnePlus fan to see OnePlus willingly throw away a winning strategy. I’m all for big batteries, fast charging, and blazing performance, but only when they don’t come at the expense of the rest of the smartphone experience. The OnePlus 13 proved that OnePlus can get that balance right, but for whatever reason, OnePlus doesn’t appear to have any interest in doing so again.

OnePlus fans in markets where the company still exists deserve another all-time release, and I do hope the OnePlus 16 is that. But if it’s sticking with the OnePlus 15 strategy like it appears to be, I fear we’re in for another rough one.