Sorry Apple, the iPhone 17e is slick but the OnePlus 15R is a bigger bargain

The iPhone 17e has earned plaudits for being a great-value option among the best iPhones, and as someone who reviews phones for a living (and as something of an Apple obsessive), I completely understand why. But if you’re thinking about picking the iPhone 17e any time soon, I urge you to at least consider the alternative options.

Now, admittedly, the iPhone 17e is exactly what last year’s iPhone 16e should have been — a genuine mid-range alternative for the Apple crowd that doesn’t leave you wanting for too much. The addition of MagSafe is a big win, as is the jump to having 256GB storage as standard, and if your entire family and/or social circle uses iPhone, then sure, it makes perfect sense as an upgrade.

You’ll have a smoother time with access to Find My, the ability to easily share files via AirDrop, and slick integration with Apple products like the AirPods Pro 3 and the Apple Watch Series 11. It sounds daft, but one of the main things keeping me in Apple’s ecosystem is access to the Notes app, where my wife and I have a shared shopping list. It’s small features like these that add up, but over the last week, I’ve been using the OnePlus 15R, and it’s reminded me how much more you can get for your money elsewhere.

What more could you ask for?

For those who don’t know, the OnePlus 15R is OnePlus' key mid-range phone for 2026, sitting below the flagship (and quite excellent) OnePlus 15 and above the recently unveiled OnePlus Nord 6. Priced at $699 / £649 / AU$899, the OnePlus 15R is at the upper end of the mid-range scale, but it offers a litany of flagship-adjacent features that put the iPhone 17e to shame.

The most obvious boon of the bunch is the absurd battery OnePlus has crammed into this phone. With a 7,400mAh cell under the hood, I’ve regularly been able to get two days of use out of the OnePlus 15R before needing to top it up. I’ve honestly become so used to toggling Low Power Mode on my iPhone 16 to get through more demanding days that it’s been a relief not to have to worry about battery life at all.

Mind you, before I even got a chance to test out the phone's battery life, I was already enamoured with the design of the OnePlus 15R.

Granted, the iPhone 17e also feels like a premium phone in the hand, but the Mint Green variant of OnePlus’ mid-ranger is so tasty to look at that I wouldn’t dare put a case anywhere near it (not that it really needs one with IP66, IP68, IP69, and IP69K durability certifications).

There are plenty of other OnePlus 15R features worthy of praise, including its 165Hz refresh rate, massive 6.83-inch display, and OnePlus’ easy-to-navigate OxygenOS. But what really solidifies its value for me is the performance of its Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset. Even though it’s a step below the top-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, at no point have I felt like I'm missing out on power.

With the OnePlus 15R, I can jump quickly between apps, have them open in side-by-side multitasking mode, and enjoy gaming without any visual hiccups. Quite simply, this phone is brilliant value for money.

The rise of the all-rounders

Although I’ll have a more detailed take in my upcoming review of the phone, I can say that the OnePlus 15R has been an excellent all-rounder in my time with it so far. But it’s not the only Android phone I’ve used that fits that description.

Last year, I got my hands on the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE, and was surprised that it didn’t leave me wanting for very much. It uses the same Exynos 2400 chipset that powered the once-flagship Samsung Galaxy S24, and while not quite as much of a battery beast as the OnePlus 15R, it still got me to the end of many long days without cause for concern. The vibrant 6.7-inch display was great for catching up on a bit of Netflix, too.

I felt a similar sense of appreciation for the recently released Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, after getting to test it out ahead of its launch. It boasts a design that makes most flagship phones seem boring by comparison, and Nothing’s operating system is just as thoughtfully constructed as its hardware.

Admittedly, while using that particular phone, I could see where the limitations of its Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset lay, but that was only as a result of having just used some of the best phones money can buy. The (4a) Pro even packs a 3.5x telephoto lens as part of its triple-camera array, and yet it costs $100 /£100 / AU$50 less than the iPhone 17e, which only has a single camera on the back.

Again, as someone who remains an iPhone devotee despite (and quite thankfully, I might add) having his pick of the litter when it comes to the best Android phones, I completely get the allure of iOS — it works brilliantly, and in owning both AirPods and AirTags, not to mention subscribing to Apple News+, my fate in the Apple ecosystem was sealed a long time ago. But if you’re at the juncture of upgrading your phone to a mid-range model, I urge you to think twice about what you can get for your money.

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