| 6.59-inch 144Hz AMOLED Display, 1800nits HBM | Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 | Up to 12GB LPDDR5X Ultra + 512GB UFS 4.1 |
| 50MP + 8MP + 32MP Selfie | 4+6 years of updates | 7600mAh + 100W |
The iQOO 15R might sit below the iQOO 15 in the lineup, but calling it the “cheaper one” feels a little unfair once you actually use it. This is not some stripped-back compromise machine. The foundation is still very much a flagship. You get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 running the show, a sharp 144Hz 1.5K AMOLED panel, a huge 7600mAh battery backed by 100W charging, and OriginOS 6 layered over Android 16. On paper alone, that already sounds serious.
What stood out to me, though, was how self-assured it feels. Yes, it clearly leans into performance, but it does not forget the essentials. The build feels reassuringly solid, the display pulls you in, and the software experience is noticeably more refined than what older iQOO phones delivered.
Starting at ₹44,999 for the 8GB+256GB variant, it enters a fiercely competitive space. So the real test is simple: is this a properly balanced near-flagship, or just a speed demon hiding a few compromises?
The iQOO 15R might be positioned below the iQOO 15, but you would not guess that from the way it feels in hand. This is easily one of the most polished phones iQOO has released in a while. The moment I picked it up, it felt properly premium. Not impressive for the price. Just premium. At no point did it give off “cut corners to save cost” energy, which is rare in this segment.
I have been using the Titanium Silver variant, and despite the name, it shifts between silver and a subtle blue depending on how light hits it. It looks sharp. The glass back has a lightly etched racing flag-inspired pattern that adds texture and character without screaming for attention. If you prefer something more low-key, the Dark Knight colour in black feels cleaner and slightly more sophisticated. The Silver has more personality, but the black is the safer, more understated pick.
The camera module uses a squarish layout with two lenses arranged horizontally. It gives off faint Nothing Phone 2a vibes, and I can see how opinions might be split. Personally, I was neutral at first. But after a few days, it just blended into the overall design and stopped drawing attention, which honestly is not a bad thing.
Thanks to the 6.59-inch display, the phone feels relatively compact by today’s standards. Even at 206 grams, it never felt bulky. The weight distribution is spot on, making one-handed use comfortable. It is also impressively slim. The Silver measures 8.1mm, while the black variant comes in slightly thinner at 7.9mm. What genuinely surprised me is how iQOO managed to fit a massive 7600mAh battery inside, along with a proper vapour cooling system, without making the phone feel chunky.
Durability has clearly been taken seriously. You get IP68 and IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance, plus Schott Xensation Alpha protection on the front. It feels built to survive daily chaos. I would still recommend using the bundled TPU case though. Glass and metal may look sleek, but gravity does not negotiate.
Feature-wise, it ticks almost every box. There is an IR blaster, NFC, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and all the usual flagship essentials. You get USB-C, though limited to USB 2.0 speeds, and there is no SD card slot. Minor misses, yes, but in the context of everything else on offer, they are easy to overlook.
Smartphone screens have improved across the board, so a good panel is no longer a luxury. Still, the iQOO 15R manages to stand out, not because it chases crazy numbers, but because the overall execution feels right.
Up front, you get a 6.59-inch 1.5K AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate. Everything feels instantly fluid. Scrolling, app switching, gaming, even basic navigation all feel consistently smooth. The bezels are impressively slim too, with side bezels measuring just 1.25mm, which gives the phone a clean, immersive look from the front.
This is an LTPS panel, so it dynamically adjusts between 144Hz, 120Hz, 90Hz and 60Hz depending on what you are doing. It does not drop down to 1Hz like LTPO displays, but in real-world use, I genuinely did not feel like I was missing anything. The phone still feels responsive while managing power efficiently.
Brightness is where it gets interesting. Peak local brightness goes up to 5000 nits on paper, which is huge. It supports over a billion colours, and while streaming HDR content on Netflix and YouTube, visuals looked vibrant and sharp without going overboard. There is no Dolby Vision here, but you do get HDR10+ support along with Netflix and Amazon HDR certifications. Colours look lively, blacks are deep, and highlights are controlled. The tuning feels balanced rather than artificially boosted, which actually helps during longer binge sessions.
Outdoor visibility is solid as well. With a peak HBM brightness of 1800 nits, reading messages or checking maps under harsh sunlight was never an issue.
You also get a 3D ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner, which works reliably even if your fingers are slightly damp or dusty. Not long ago, that felt like a proper flagship feature.
As for audio, the stereo speakers get reasonably loud and offer decent clarity for short videos and casual gaming. They are perfectly fine for daily use, but they are not replacing a proper Bluetooth speaker anytime soon.
If there is one area where the iQOO 15R feels completely unapologetic, it is performance. This thing does not tiptoe around its positioning. It goes all in. You get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, paired with up to 12GB of LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. On paper, that already reads like a flagship checklist, and in actual use, it behaves like one.
In AnTuTu, I scored just under 3.1 million. That is slightly below iQOO’s claimed 3.5 million, but 3.1 million is still huge for this segment. Geekbench returned 2793 in single-core and 9017 in multi-core, comfortably sitting in flagship territory. In 3DMark, stability came in at 56.2 per cent, which shows this phone is not just chasing peak numbers for screenshots. It is built to sustain performance.
Day-to-day use feels effortless. Scrolling through Instagram, jumping between apps, streaming Netflix or YouTube, and running heavy apps in the background all feel consistently smooth. There were multiple moments where I genuinely forgot this is supposed to be the “more affordable” option.
iQOO has also added its Q2 Supercomputing chip along with a dedicated Network Enhancing chip. The Q2 chip kicks in during graphically intense tasks, especially gaming, while the network chip optimises 5G and WiFi stability. It sounds like textbook marketing, but during longer gaming sessions, the difference felt noticeable. Frame rates stayed stable and connections felt steady.
Gaming is where the 15R really shines. With the 144Hz display and Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 working together, the experience feels incredibly fluid. In BGMI, I averaged around 143fps. Even though the game caps at 120fps, frame interpolation helps smooth things out further. You can also tweak settings to upscale visuals closer to 1.5K clarity, even if the game renders lower internally.
What impressed me most is how well it handles heat. The IceCore vapour chamber cooling system, combined with a dual-layer graphite sheet, keeps thermals in check. Even during extended sessions, it never felt uncomfortably hot.
For raw performance, there is barely anything here to nitpick.
The iQOO 15R runs OriginOS 6 based on Android 16 right out of the box, and it is honestly one of the biggest upgrades the brand has made in years. If you remember the older FunTouch OS era, this feels like a complete reset. The interface looks more modern, animations are tighter, and the entire experience feels smoother and more cohesive.
In daily use, the polish is noticeable. Unlocking the phone, switching between apps, pulling down notifications, everything feels fluid and properly optimised. There is also a healthy amount of customisation built in. Flip Cards, Live Photo wallpapers, layout tweaks and visual adjustments are all easy to access, and you do not need to dig through endless menus to personalise the phone.
There is clearly some inspiration from iOS 26’s liquid glass design language, but it does not feel like a lazy copy. The implementation feels thoughtful. Origin Island, for example, takes cues from Apple’s Dynamic Island, but in practice, it feels less distracting and more seamlessly integrated. Live notifications and background activities appear in a way that feels functional rather than flashy. But best of all are the additional AI features that they get.
Speaking of which, AI features are everywhere, as you would expect from a 2026 device. You get AI Creation tools, AI Captions, and multiple AI-powered photo editing options. Google’s AI ecosystem is fully baked in too, including Gemini, Call Translation, and Circle to Search.
iQOO is promising 4 years of Android updates and 6 years of security patches, along with claims of five years of consistently smooth performance. That kind of long-term commitment makes the software story even stronger.
iQOO has never really chased the “camera king” title. The brand has always leaned more into raw performance. That said, over the last few launches, imaging has clearly improved, and the 15R continues that trend.
You get a 50MP main sensor with OIS, paired with an 8MP ultrawide. On paper, it is not the most ambitious setup in this segment, but the main camera genuinely surprised me. In good lighting, it captures plenty of detail with pleasing colours and decent dynamic range. The processing does a respectable job of balancing highlights and shadows, though the colour tone can lean slightly warm at times.
Is this the best camera system around this price? No. But it is far from disappointing. For most users, especially those not obsessing over pixel-peeping, it delivers more than acceptable results. The imaging pipeline feels refined enough to consistently pull out good shots without too much effort.
The ultrawide, however, is where compromises are more visible. Colours remain fairly consistent with the main sensor, but sharpness takes a noticeable dip. In low light, its limitations become clearer, with softer details and more visible noise.
Portrait shots are generally solid. Edge detection holds up well in most scenarios, and skin tones look natural without going overboard on smoothing. The 32MP front camera handles selfies well enough. It may not blow you away, but it is reliable for social media and video calls.
For video, both front and rear cameras support up to 4K at 60fps. Rear stabilisation is decent and usable, while the front camera’s stabilisation feels slightly less refined and could use some fine-tuning.
Battery anxiety is simply not a thing with the iQOO 15R. Packing a huge 7600mAh cell, this phone is clearly built for endurance. During my testing, which included long gaming sessions, camera usage, benchmark runs, and hours of YouTube and Netflix, it consistently lasted around a day and a half. With more regular, everyday use, hitting two full days on a single charge feels very achievable.
When it finally does run low, the 100W fast charging makes topping up painless. Going from zero to 100 per cent took just over an hour, which is genuinely impressive considering the size of the battery inside.
After spending proper time with the iQOO 15R, it is clear that this phone knows where it wants to win. Performance is the headline, and not just in benchmark charts. In everyday use, it feels fast, stable and completely unfazed by heavy multitasking or long gaming sessions.
The 144Hz display keeps interactions looking crisp and fluid, and that massive 7600mAh battery is genuinely one of its biggest strengths. Being able to push close to two days on a single charge feels like a real advantage in this segment.
The camera setup is not class-leading, particularly the ultrawide, but the 50MP main sensor delivers consistently solid shots. Unless mobile photography is your absolute priority, most users are unlikely to feel disappointed with what is on offer here.