OnePlus just revealed its next flagship will be called the OnePlus 15 - skipping the unlucky number 14 entirely - and it's packing some serious hardware changes. The company announced the phone at Qualcomm's China summit, confirming it'll run the brand-new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset with a blazing 165Hz display, while also ending its five-year camera partnership with Hasselblad.
OnePlus just threw everyone a curveball at Qualcomm's second Snapdragon Summit in China. The company's next flagship won't be called the OnePlus 14 - it's jumping straight to the OnePlus 15, and the reasoning is as cultural as it is strategic.
The decision to skip 14 stems from Chinese superstitions around the number four, which sounds like 'death' in Mandarin and Cantonese. It's the same reason many Chinese buildings don't have fourth floors. But there's method to this numerical madness - the OnePlus 15 pairs perfectly with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, creating a clean marketing narrative that sidesteps cultural taboos.
The hardware specs revealed at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit show OnePlus isn't just playing naming games. The OnePlus 15 will sport a 165Hz refresh rate display alongside that cutting-edge Snapdragon processor, positioning it squarely in premium flagship territory. The company showed off a sleek black version on stage, and the design language tells an interesting story about OnePlus's current strategy.
Visually, the OnePlus 15 looks more like the OnePlus 13T than its direct predecessor. It features the same rounded square camera island that debuted on the 13T model, and early indications suggest it'll follow that phone's lead by dropping the iconic alert slider in favor of a customizable shortcut button. It's a design evolution that signals OnePlus is willing to abandon some of its signature features for broader market appeal.
But the biggest shakeup isn't hardware - it's partnerships. The OnePlus 15 marks the end of an era as the company's first flagship in years without Hasselblad camera branding. CEO Pete Lau announced the brands are ending their five-year collaboration, though in a twist that'll confuse consumers, parent company Oppo will continue working with the Swedish camera maker.
OnePlus is striking out on its own with something called the DetailMax Engine, their new image processing technology. The name might not win any creativity awards, but it represents OnePlus's bet that they can deliver premium camera experiences without leaning on heritage camera brand partnerships.
