Nothing Phone 3 VS OnePlus 15

Both phones share a broadly similar physical footprint, but the differences in how that space is used tell an interesting story. The Nothing Phone 3 is marginally thicker at 9 mm versus the OnePlus 15's 8.1 mm — a 0.9 mm gap that is genuinely noticeable in-hand and in a pocket. That slimmer profile also contributes to the OnePlus 15 having a meaningfully smaller total volume (100.27 cm³ vs 109.27 cm³), meaning it displaces less space despite being fractionally taller and wider. In practice, the OnePlus 15 will feel sleeker and less bulky, even though neither phone qualifies as thin by modern flagship standards.

Weight is a near-draw: the OnePlus 15 comes in at 215 g versus 218 g for the Nothing Phone 3, a 3-gram difference that is imperceptible during normal use. Neither device has a rugged build or a foldable form factor, so day-to-day handling expectations are conventional for both.

Where the OnePlus 15 earns a clear, unambiguous edge is water resistance. Its IP69 rating surpasses the Nothing Phone 3's IP68 in a meaningful way: IP69 adds protection against high-pressure, high-temperature water jets — a step beyond the sustained submersion standard that IP68 covers. For most users this distinction is rarely tested, but it does signal a more robust seal. Combined with its slimmer chassis, the OnePlus 15 holds the stronger hand in this design category.

The shared fundamentals here are strong: both phones use OLED/AMOLED panels with identical typical brightness of 800 nits, damage-resistant glass, Always-On Display, and HDR10+ support. At a glance they look like equals — but the details reveal a genuine tug-of-war between two very different priorities.

The OnePlus 15 pulls ahead on display smoothness with a 165Hz refresh rate versus the Nothing Phone 3's 120Hz, a difference that is visibly apparent when scrolling and navigating the UI. It also supports Dolby Vision, a premium HDR format that Nothing Phone 3 lacks — relevant if you stream content from platforms like Netflix or Apple TV+ that serve Dolby Vision masters. Flip the coin, though, and the Nothing Phone 3 counters with a remarkable 1000Hz touch sampling rate against the OnePlus 15's 330Hz. That gap matters most in fast-paced gaming, where near-instantaneous input registration is a tangible advantage. Pixel density is functionally tied — 460 ppi vs 450 ppi — well past the threshold where individual pixels are distinguishable to the human eye.

Declaring a single winner here depends entirely on use case. The OnePlus 15 offers a more refined experience for media consumption, combining a slightly larger 6.78″ screen, higher refresh rate, and Dolby Vision. The Nothing Phone 3 is the stronger pick for competitive gaming thanks to its class-leading touch responsiveness. On balance, the OnePlus 15 edges ahead for the broader audience, as its advantages apply across everyday use, while the Nothing Phone 3's touch sampling rate is a niche but compelling differentiator for a specific type of user.

This is one of the most lopsided matchups in the comparison. The OnePlus 15 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 — a top-tier flagship chip built on a 3 nm process — while the Nothing Phone 3 uses the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, a capable but explicitly mid-tier derivative on a 4 nm node. The benchmark numbers make the gap concrete: the OnePlus 15 scores 3,434,000 on AnTuTu versus 2,084,000 for the Nothing Phone 3, a roughly 65% advantage. Geekbench 6 single-core tells a similar story — 3,726 vs 2,041 — meaning the OnePlus 15 handles demanding single-threaded tasks like app launches and UI rendering dramatically faster in real-world conditions.

What makes the OnePlus 15's performance advantage even more striking is its efficiency. Despite its substantially higher output, it operates at a TDP of 8.2W compared to the Nothing Phone 3's 12.5W — meaning it generates less heat and places less strain on the battery under load. Additional architectural edges compound this lead: the OnePlus 15 has double the L2 cache (12 MB vs 6 MB), faster RAM at 5300 MHz, greater memory bandwidth at 85.1 GB/s, and supports OpenCL 3 versus OpenCL 2. Both phones ship with 16 GB of RAM, so multitasking capacity is equal on paper, but the underlying throughput advantages favor the OnePlus 15 in sustained workloads. Storage is also a factor: the OnePlus 15 offers up to 1 TB internally, doubling the Nothing Phone 3's 512 GB ceiling.

The verdict here is unambiguous — the OnePlus 15 holds a commanding and well-rounded performance advantage. The Nothing Phone 3 is no slouch for everyday tasks, but for users who push their phones with heavy gaming, video editing, or multitasking, the performance ceiling of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is meaningfully lower. The OnePlus 15 wins this category decisively.

On paper, the two systems look nearly identical — triple 50 MP rear cameras, OIS, phase-detection autofocus, RAW shooting, and 3x-range optical zoom. Dig into the details, though, and some meaningful divergences emerge. The Nothing Phone 3 leads on main-lens aperture at f/1.68 versus the OnePlus 15's f/1.8; that wider opening lets in more light and can produce a shallower depth of field, which tends to benefit low-light stills and portrait shots. The Nothing Phone 3 also edges ahead on the front camera, pairing a 50 MP selfie sensor with a wider f/2.2 aperture, compared to the OnePlus 15's 32 MP sensor at f/2.4 — a noticeable gap for selfie-focused users.

The OnePlus 15 punches back on multiple fronts. Its maximum video resolution reaches 8K (4320p) at 30 fps — a significant leap over the Nothing Phone 3's ceiling of 4K at 60 fps. For videographers who want the highest possible resolution for cropping and color grading, this is a genuine differentiator. The OnePlus 15 also offers slightly more telephoto reach at 3.5x optical zoom versus 3x, and uniquely includes laser autofocus, which assists in locking focus faster and more reliably in low-contrast scenes where phase-detection alone can hunt.

This category is genuinely split by use case. The Nothing Phone 3 has the advantage for still photography — particularly selfies and low-light shooting — thanks to its wider apertures and higher-resolution front sensor. The OnePlus 15 is the stronger choice for video creators and zoom users, with its 8K recording capability and laser autofocus providing a well-rounded edge for dynamic shooting scenarios. Considered overall, the OnePlus 15 holds a slight aggregate advantage due to its video ceiling and autofocus hardware, but neither phone dominates this category cleanly.

Across nearly three dozen tracked software features, these two phones are functionally identical — a rare outcome that reflects how closely aligned modern Android skins have become on core privacy controls, accessibility tools, and productivity features. Both offer dynamic theming, split-screen multitasking, picture-in-picture, on-device machine learning, and a full suite of granular privacy options. For the overwhelming majority of users, day-to-day software experience will feel interchangeable.

Two specs separate them. The more consequential one is Android version: the OnePlus 15 ships with Android 16, while the Nothing Phone 3 launches on Android 15. A newer base OS version means the OnePlus 15 starts from a more current security and feature baseline, and will theoretically reach end-of-support later — relevant for users who hold onto phones for several years. The second difference cuts the other way: the Nothing Phone 3 supports Wi-Fi password sharing, a small but genuinely convenient feature for quickly getting guests onto your network, which the OnePlus 15 lacks.

On balance, the OnePlus 15 holds the edge here, primarily because launching on a newer Android version is a more durable and broadly applicable advantage than Wi-Fi password sharing. That said, this is the closest category in the entire comparison — the software gap between these two phones is narrow enough that it should carry very little weight in a purchasing decision.

Few categories in this comparison are as decisively one-sided as battery. The OnePlus 15 carries a 7300 mAh cell — a massive 42% larger than the Nothing Phone 3's 5150 mAh. That kind of gap translates directly into real-world stamina: users who struggle to make it through a full day on most phones can reasonably expect to push into a second day with the OnePlus 15 under moderate usage. The Nothing Phone 3's 5150 mAh is a respectable capacity by modern standards, but it simply cannot compete on raw endurance.

The charging picture is equally skewed. The OnePlus 15 supports 120W wired fast charging versus the Nothing Phone 3's 65W — nearly double the speed, which in practice means dramatically shorter top-up times from low battery. Wireless charging follows the same pattern: 50W on the OnePlus 15 versus 15W on the Nothing Phone 3, a difference that makes wireless charging a genuinely fast refueling option rather than an overnight convenience. Even reverse wireless charging, useful for topping up earbuds or a smartwatch, runs at 10W on the OnePlus 15 compared to 5W on the Nothing Phone 3. As a final practical note, the OnePlus 15 also includes a charger in the box — something the Nothing Phone 3 omits entirely.

The OnePlus 15 wins this category comprehensively and without qualification. It holds advantages across every single battery-related metric: capacity, wired charging speed, wireless charging speed, reverse wireless charging speed, and in-box accessories. For users who prioritize battery life and charging convenience — which is most people — this is one of the strongest arguments in the OnePlus 15's favor across the entire comparison.

Neither phone offers a 3.5mm headphone jack or a radio — that common ground established, the meaningful difference here is entirely about wireless audio codec support. Both phones share stereo speakers, aptX HD, and aptX Adaptive, which covers most modern high-quality Bluetooth audio use cases. Where they diverge is on aptX and LDAC: the Nothing Phone 3 supports both, while the OnePlus 15 does not.

LDAC is the more significant omission. Developed by Sony, LDAC transmits audio at up to three times the bitrate of standard Bluetooth codecs, making it the preferred choice for audiophiles using high-resolution wireless headphones — particularly Sony's own WH and WF series, which are among the most popular LDAC-compatible headphones on the market. If you own or plan to buy LDAC headphones, the Nothing Phone 3 will deliver a noticeably higher-fidelity wireless stream. aptX Adaptive, which both phones support, is a capable high-resolution codec in its own right, but LDAC compatibility broadens the Nothing Phone 3's compatibility with premium audio gear.

The Nothing Phone 3 takes this category on the strength of its LDAC support alone. For casual listeners, the gap will be imperceptible — aptX Adaptive is excellent — but for users invested in a high-resolution wireless audio setup, the Nothing Phone 3 is the meaningfully more capable device here.

The connectivity foundation is essentially identical: both phones run 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, NFC, USB-C, and dual SIM — a strong baseline that covers everything most users need. The standout divergence is cellular download speed: the OnePlus 15 is rated for up to 10,000 Mbps, compared to the Nothing Phone 3's 4,200 Mbps. While real-world network conditions rarely approach either ceiling, this gap reflects a more advanced modem in the OnePlus 15 that can better exploit dense 5G infrastructure — relevant in cities with mature mmWave networks and useful as a buffer for future network rollouts.

The Nothing Phone 3 counters with one meaningful exclusive: an eSIM slot alongside its two physical SIM slots. The OnePlus 15 offers dual physical SIM only, with no eSIM support listed. For frequent travelers or users who want to maintain separate personal and work numbers without carrying a second SIM card, eSIM support is a genuinely practical advantage. On the sensor side, the OnePlus 15 gains ground with a built-in barometer and infrared sensor — the former useful for accurate altitude readings and weather apps, the latter allowing the phone to function as a universal TV and appliance remote, a niche but convenient feature the Nothing Phone 3 lacks entirely.

This category ends in a narrow split. The OnePlus 15 is the stronger choice for power users who prioritize raw cellular throughput and hardware sensor breadth, while the Nothing Phone 3 edges ahead for those who value SIM flexibility via eSIM. On aggregate, the OnePlus 15 holds a slight overall advantage here — its modem and sensor additions affect more users than eSIM support typically does — but neither phone has a commanding lead in this group.

The miscellaneous category offers no differentiation whatsoever between these two phones. Every tracked spec — video light, sapphire glass display, curved display, and e-paper display — returns the exact same value for both the Nothing Phone 3 and the OnePlus 15. This is a complete tie by the data provided.

The shared presence of a video light is worth briefly noting as a practical positive for both devices, offering a continuous light source useful for video calls or close-up filming in dim environments. The absence of sapphire glass on either phone is standard for Android flagships at this tier, where branded damage-resistant glass is the norm. Neither phone adopts a curved or e-paper display, keeping both squarely in conventional flat-screen territory.

This group should carry no weight in a purchasing decision — it is an exact draw across every data point provided.