With a benchmark score exceeding 4 million, can OnePlus 15 overcome the "heat dissipation challenge"?

The OnePlus 15, which prides itself on gaming performance, has recently been embroiled in a series of controversies, including severe overheating issues and requests for bloggers to delete posts. Relevant discussions have not only quickly spread among overseas tech media but also led to numerous complaints about the overheating of the OnePlus 15 on domestic social platforms and interest communities. The public sentiment related to this issue is on the verge of escalating into a major brand public relations crisis...

Did OnePlus Ask a Well - known Leaker to Delete a Post?

According to media reports, well - known leaker Debayan Roy found that when using a OnePlus 15 review unit to record a 4K 60fps video outdoors in winter, the phone's temperature rose to 50°C after just 5 minutes. Subsequently, the camera automatically stopped recording and was disabled for a few minutes.

So, the blogger posted this real - life usage experience on the X platform and added in the comments that the phone performed normally in indoor environments and during daily tasks. This implies that the "automatic camera shutdown and temporary disablement" currently only occurs during 4K 60fps video recording. However, it is reported that OnePlus directly contacted Debayan Roy and asked him to delete the post.

As of the time of writing, OnePlus has not responded to the severe overheating issue or whether it asked the leaker to delete the relevant post. However, it is evident that even if the original post is "invisible," the related screenshots and subsequent reports have continued to generate high - level discussions on X and Reddit. This well - known leaker's post may be one of the triggers for the OnePlus 15 overheating scandal.

Why does the common practice of brand owners asking the media to remove unfavorable reports in China often cause a huge backlash overseas? The author believes that it is necessary to "educate" the public about the power dynamics within the content ecosystem among the media, self - media, and brands:

Compared with domestic review media or leaker bloggers, when brand owners in China request the removal of negative content, it usually works. However, in the overseas media circle, this behavior is generally disliked. Some YouTubers who have early access to the full - set media units of the OnePlus 15 praise the phone's advantages but are also straightforward about its flaws.

They generally do not accept the "pre - review" from manufacturers. For example, the famous YouTuber "MKBHD," known as the world's top tech and digital review YouTuber, said bluntly, "The OnePlus 15 is almost perfect, except for its disappointing camera." In his video, he praised many advantages of the OnePlus 15 but clearly expressed his dissatisfaction with the phone's camera performance.

Let's return to the severe overheating issue of the OnePlus 15. Is it just an isolated case reported by this leaker?

Media also reported that "tests from the Max Tech channel showed that the OnePlus 15 has overheating problems under high - load scenarios."

In the first round of testing, when running the 3D Mark Wild Life Extreme program, which evaluates a phone's extreme graphics performance, the OnePlus 15, equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Extreme chip, heated up rapidly within a few minutes. Eventually, the testing app was forced to close due to overheating, which is in sharp contrast to the official claim that it is equipped with a VC vapor chamber with double the heat - dissipation capacity.

In the second test, the same problem recurred after 8 minutes. The phone's system not only issued a high - temperature warning but also crashed the testing app. Moreover, several built - in system functions, such as the flashlight and creating a Wi - Fi hotspot, were unavailable until the phone's temperature returned to normal. This phenomenon indicates that the overheating problem has begun to affect the phone's basic functionality.

In the third round of testing, the tester compared the OnePlus 15 with the iPhone 17 Pro Max. After seven rounds of the 3D Mark Wild Life Extreme test, the OnePlus 15's temperature reached 51.3°C, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max only reached 39.2°C, a difference of over 12°C. Well - known tech media Wccftech stated that the root cause may still be the high power consumption of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Extreme chip used in this model.

Early data from Geekbench 6 shows that to significantly outperform Apple's A19 Pro in multi - core performance, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Extreme has a board - level power consumption of 19.5W, 61% higher than the A19 Pro's 12.1W. This means that phones equipped with the former will generate more heat, especially when running performance - testing apps, and the difference in heat generation is more obvious.

However, many phone models are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Extreme chip, such as the Xiaomi 17 series, Redmi K90 Pro Max, vivo's sub - brand iQOO 15 series, Nubia Z80 Ultra, Realme GT8 Pro, etc. In particular, the total activation of the Xiaomi 17 series across all channels has exceeded 2 million. But there are few cases like the OnePlus 15, where severe overheating requires the phone to cool down before it can be used normally. Otherwise, it would have triggered a major public outcry and trended on social media.

In addition, not only on overseas social media platforms but also on domestic media platforms like Xiaohongshu and interest communities like Baidu Tieba, there are many users complaining about the severe overheating of the OnePlus 15. For example, Tieba user "Big Brother Wei" said, "It gets hotter than my previous Realme GT6 when playing games. The AnTuTu (a well - known domestic performance - testing app) shows a temperature of over 50°C." Xiaohongshu users also complained about overheating during charging...

Currently, it is unclear whether the over - aggressive performance - scheduling strategy of the OnePlus 15 or other factors are the cause. We hope that the manufacturer will pay attention to this issue and provide corresponding optimizations through OTA updates. After all, overheating that renders the phone unusable is a serious problem that affects the user's daily experience.

Has OnePlus Lost Its Way After Returning to OPPO?

Once known for its "Never Settle" slogan and having created scenes of long queues in the United States, the most competitive smartphone market, OnePlus was once regarded as a shining example of domestic brands in the eyes of Chinese users. Just like its brand slogan, it never compromised on anything, from performance and configuration to design. A report from Counterpoint, an authoritative market research institution, shows that OnePlus has entered the top five in the global high - end smartphone market share, with a year - on - year growth of 20.9%, making it the fastest - growing high - end brand.

Photo: American users queuing up to buy OnePlus phones

However, since OnePlus returned to OPPO, there have been obvious changes in its style and positioning:

The OPPO Group's high - end flagship has since become the Find series. For example, the Hasselblad partnership, which OnePlus was the first to collaborate with, is now exclusive to the Find X9 series, and the OnePlus 15 has lost this advantage. As MKBHD complained, "The camera of the OnePlus 15 has clearly regressed," while the Find X9 Pro boasts extremely powerful imaging capabilities and is one of the strongest contenders for the title of the best imaging phone in 2025 so far!

According to reliable shipment data, the Find X9 series has been well - received in both the Western European and domestic markets. For more details, please refer to our recently published article "One Million Shipments Are Not Enough! OPPO Find X9 Wins Over Users Overseas, and Its High - end Phones Are More Popular Than iPhones."

So, to date, OnePlus has actually completed a role transformation within the OPPO Group. To be precise, it now targets users who prioritize gaming performance. This can be inferred from the key data revealed by OnePlus CEO Li Jie at the OnePlus 15 launch event:

On October 28th, Li Jie, the president of OnePlus in China, revealed at the launch event that "in 2025, OnePlus' sales increased by 36.7% year - on - year, ranking first in the industry in terms of growth rate. More notably, the number of its users under 24 years old increased by 106% year - on - year, indicating that OnePlus' appeal among young consumers is rapidly increasing. OnePlus will continue to focus on the performance and gaming sectors, collaborate with industry partners to drive technological breakthroughs, and adhere to the principle of 'co - creation with users.'"

In other words, OnePlus has bid farewell to its former self. Now, OnePlus has a new mission - to be the flag - bearer of domestic gaming flagships!

To win the hearts of gaming enthusiasts, OnePlus is also actively innovating in terms of functions closely related to the gaming experience. For example, the OnePlus 15 is equipped with the in - house developed G2 gaming network chip and is the first in the industry to feature a professional gaming - controller - level gyroscope. It also has the latest touch - display synchronization technology among Android phones and a 165Hz gaming ecosystem experience.

However, from a brand perspective, although the OnePlus 15, a product full of sincerity, achieved record - high sales in its first week, accounting for 3.3% of the market share that week, its long - term performance in the consumer market may fall short of expectations.

During the recent Double Eleven promotion, data from the JD.com sales ranking showed that in the cumulative ranking of phones priced between 4000 - 5999 yuan, the OnePlus 15 ranked seventh, while the iQOO 15, also equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8