Black Friday is fast approaching, but the best deals aren’t tied to that date anymore — some brands and retailers are spreading them throughout almost the entire month.
This week we had an important launch when the OnePlus 15 went global. In Europe, the base 12/256GB variant is €50 cheaper than the OnePlus 13, but the 16/512GB upgrade is now €50 more.
OnePlus made some questionable choices with the hardware. On paper, the camera is worse than the 13’s. However, we did a OnePlus 13 vs. OnePlus 15 shootout and found that there was a lot to like. Still, the camera could have been so much better with better hardware — great processing alone isn’t enough. Check out our detailed review for more on our thoughts on the OnePlus 15.
The OnePlus 15 will be available from November 20 and will face competition from the get-go. The Vivo x300 Pro opted for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 over the Snapdragon 9500 – both chipsets are pretty close in performance. Vivo equipped its phone with more serious camera hardware – the 50MP main sensor is 1/1.28″ (1/1.56″ similar to OnePlus) and the 3.5x 85mm periscope is supported by a 200MP 1/1.4″ sensor (vs. 50MP 1/2.76″).
However, the European X300 Pro units have a smaller 5,440mAh battery (down from the 6,510mAh on the Chinese units), while OnePlus has kept the full 7,300mAh capacity for the Euro model. And the difference is huge, with the OnePlus 15 achieving double the Active Usage score (23:07H vs. 12:45H for the X300 Pro). Of course, the Vivo X300 Pro is pricier, even with the €150 coupon you can get right now.
There’s also the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra – the H1 2025 flagship has been around for a while, so it’s now priced at or below the OnePlus 15 price. The early launch means the phone now uses the last-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite chip.
Although it has a 200MP 1/1.3″ main, the S25 Ultra only has a smaller 50MP 1/2.52″ sensor in its 5x/111mm periscope. A 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired and 15W wireless charging was never particularly impressive, and it’s even less so now. Vivo and OnePlus support 90W and 120W wired and 40W and 50W wireless charging respectively.
The Xiaomi 15T Pro is much more than a budget flagship – even more so than the OnePlus 15. Its dimensions are no match for the 9400+ Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (it’s a 2024 chip after all), but the camera setup is better positioned to challenge OnePlus than the 14T Pro.
A 5,500mAh battery with 90W wired and 50W wireless charging doesn’t last as long as the OnePlus 15, though it beats the Vivo. And as we said, the 15T Pro is €240 cheaper than the OnePlus 15, which could tip the scales in its favor.
Will OnePlus release a smaller flagship in Europe? Who knows…but Vivo did. The Vivo X300 is an impressive piece of kit. It’s on the heavy side for a 6.31″ phone at 190 grams. However, the 5,360mAh battery sure feels good. It’s bigger than the S25 Ultra battery! And it lasts longer than the X300 Pro battery.
The X300 has the same Dimension 9500 chipset as the bigger X300 Pro but a different camera setup—200MP 1/1.4″ main, 50MP 1/1.95″ 3x/70mm periscope and 50MP 119° ultra-wide.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 is in the same size class in terms of screen dimensions, but it’s significantly lighter at 162 grams. The downside is that its 4,000 mAh battery won’t last as long as the X300 – it’s 13:09h vs 17:31h in terms of usability score. What’s worse is that the 50MP 1/1.56″ main and 10MP 3x/67mm on the back are separate from the smaller Vivo stuff.
The Google Pixel 10 is the first-generation vanilla Pixel with a telephoto camera — it’s only a 10.8MP unit, but the 5x/112mm lens gives it a leg up over the Samsung, if not the Vivo. The smaller 1/2.0″ 48MP sensor in the main is a downgrade from the previous model, though, so the Tensor G5 isn’t a significant upgrade. Performance is lower with a 4,970mAh battery that lasts an hour less than the S25 (12:08H active usage score).
Despite their flaws, the Pixels command high prices – the vanilla Pixel 10 is more expensive than the Galaxy S25, the Pixel 10 Pro costs even more. The Pro has a larger 1/1.31″ 50MP sensor for its main camera and a more competitive 48MP 5x/113mm telephoto camera, but its chipset and battery life still aren’t great.
Note: If you go for the 256GB Pixel 10 Pro, you can pay €20 extra for a pair of Google Pixel Buds Pro 2, which in our opinion are definitely worth it as they are capable (if flawed) TWS buds.
Similarly, the Google Pixel 9 comes with a free pair of Pixel buds, even though they’re the cheaper 2A model. Still, you can’t beat free. Anyway, the Pixel 9 has a 50MP main camera with a larger 1/1.31″ sensor and a higher-resolution 48MP ultra-wide (vs. 13MP on the Pixel 10). How much will you miss that 10.8MP 5x telephoto camera? Because the difference between the Tensor G4 and G5 isn’t huge.
You can get the Google Pixel 9A for even less cash. It’s not competitive with high-end models, but we include it for those who want a 6.3″-class phone but don’t want to spend more than €500. Here’s how the Pixel 9a and Pixel 9 compare.
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