Chinese smartphone brands are really turning up the heat this year. We’ve already seen pretty powerful and interesting launches like the Redmi K90 Pro Max, the vivo X300 series, and the Xiaomi 17 lineup. Now, OnePlus has entered the arena with the OnePlus 15.
OnePlus is a rare China-based flagship maker with a solid market presence in the US. This time around, the company has packed some serious upgrades into its flagship, and people are genuinely wondering if they should just grab the OnePlus 15 instead of waiting around for Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series.
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We ran a poll over on Android Authority asking readers if the OnePlus 15, with its massive 7,300mAh battery, 120W charging, 165Hz display, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, and all the other upgrades, is shaping up to be more exciting than what we’ve heard about the Galaxy S26 family so far. Surprisingly, the results lean heavily toward OnePlus for now.
OnePlus 15 vs. Galaxy S26: Which phone are you most excited about?
Out of more than 4,000 votes, 71% of respondents said they’re more hyped for the OnePlus 15 than for any of the Galaxy S26 models, including the standard S26, the returning S26 Plus, and the S26 Ultra.
“Every year, people ask for bigger batteries and faster charging. Every year, Samsung gives the same size battery and slow charging, and claims efficiency gains instead — yeah, right. Keep ignoring your customers at your peril, Samsung,” one survey participant commented.
“Samsung didn’t start acting like this until Huawei and Xiaomi got banned from the US,” another added.
“OnePlus might be a smaller player, but as someone who’s owned the 10 Pro and now the 13R, I’ve got to say their phones are solid. The battery life and performance on the 13R are amazing,” said another reader.
Meanwhile, 21% of voters still chose the Galaxy S26 Ultra, which might end up being Samsung’s only true flagship next year, while the regular S26 and S26 Plus grabbed 5% and 3% of the votes, respectively.
“I think the 2nm Exynos 2600 might help the S26 lineup’s battery life, so maybe the base and FE models can at least come close to the OnePlus 15’s huge battery. The charging still sucks, though. But One UI is leagues above OxygenOS, and camera results still come down to the user,” noted one survey taker.
Samsung is still in a league of its own when it comes to software experience, update commitment, and overall polish.
“The battle’s not over. Samsung just needs to rethink its strategy. They’ve been coasting for years. Software’s great, but the hardware hasn’t evolved much. Still, this is Samsung — they’ll bounce back,” said another.
“A lot of people are just used to buying Samsung phones, so they’ll keep buying Samsung phones. They’ll point out small issues in other brands but ignore the big flaws in their own,” another user commented.
Maybe this OnePlus surge is partly because of what we’ve been hearing — or not hearing — about the Galaxy S26 so far. Leaks suggest the base S26 could reuse the same cameras from the S25, with only a small bump in battery capacity from 4,000mAh to 4,300mAh and still just 25W wired charging. The Plus and Ultra models don’t seem to have huge changes either, aside from possible Qi2 wireless charging. Add in rumors of canceled Edge and Pro variants, and it’s no wonder excitement about the S26 lineup feels muted this time around.
The OnePlus 15 isn’t about to destroy the Galaxy S26 series.
On the other hand, the OnePlus 15 is shaping up to be an exciting flagship, and it’s great to see real competition in the premium Android space again. That said, Samsung is still in a league of its own when it comes to software experience, update commitment, and overall polish. One UI remains the gold standard for Android, and Samsung’s ecosystem strength can’t be matched overnight. So no, the OnePlus 15 isn’t about to destroy the Galaxy S26 series, but it’s a welcome reminder that Samsung can’t afford to stay comfortable.
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