Checks all the right boxes
The Honor Magic 8 Pro finally feels like a proper all-around flagship with very few compromises. There are still a couple of drawbacks here and there, but Honor has clearly managed to put together a genuinely well-rounded flagship this time.
Pros
- Premium-looking design that feels flagship-grade
- Strong performance paired with a large battery and fast charging
- Brighter display that holds up better
- Higher-megapixel zoom camera delivers cleaner long-range shots
Cons
- Not officially sold in the U.S.
- Too many pre-installed Honor apps out of the box
- Plastic back feels out of place on a flagship
Familiar OnePlus comfort zone
The OnePlus 15 feels very familiar in a classic OnePlus way, even though the design has moved on quite a bit from its predecessor. It is fast, delivers a clean and smooth experience, and offers fast charging with strong battery life. Although there is no Hasselblad tuning this time around.
Pros
- Premium design with excellent build quality
- Reliable performance with big battery and fast charging
- Clean, smooth software experience
- Durable Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection
Cons
- Telephoto zoom camera is weaker
- No Hasselblad tuning
- Display downgrade drops QHD+ resolution
Both phones offer a very similar overall package, but if you are deciding between the Honor Magic 8 Pro and the OnePlus 15, which one makes more sense for you? Let us take a closer look at how the two flagship phones compare.
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Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Pricing and availability
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
Honor unveiled the Magic 8 Pro in its home market of China on October 15, 2025. The flagship later made its way to global and European markets on January 8, 2026. Like previous Honor phones, however, the Magic 8 Pro is not launching in the U.S. or Canada.
Pricing starts at £ 1,099, and the Honor Magic 8 Pro is available in a single configuration with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The phone is also available for pre-order in select European markets, including Germany and Spain. It comes in three color options: Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, and Black.
The OnePlus 15 made its global debut on November 13, 2025, and unlike the Magic 8 Pro, it is available for purchase in the U.S., albeit a little later than its initial launch. The OnePlus 15 is also sold in India, Europe, and the UK.
Pricing for the OnePlus 15 starts at $899 / £849 / ₹72,999 for the base variant with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The higher-end model costs $100 more and bumps the configuration up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The OnePlus 15 comes in three color options as well: Infinite Black, Ultra Violet, and Sand Storm.
Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Design and display
(Image credit: Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central)
OnePlus used to have a distinct design language, but that identity has slowly faded, and the OnePlus 15 makes that especially clear. The phone looks eerily similar to most 2026 flagships, with a flat-edged design, rounded corners, a clean back, and a square-ish camera module in the top-left corner.
It looks very similar to the OnePlus 13s, just larger, and most of the distinctive design elements that once set OnePlus apart are now gone.
The Honor Magic 8 Pro, on the other hand, builds on the design language Honor established with the Magic 7 Pro. It follows the familiar slab-style flagship design with flat edges and curved corners, but both the front and back glass subtly curve at the edges, making the phone more comfortable to hold. The camera module on the back is centered towards the top and circular.
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(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
Both phones are also quite similar in size and dimensions, and they weigh almost the same as well, with the Honor Magic 8 Pro coming in at 219 grams and the OnePlus 15 at 211 grams.
One area where both phones shine is durability. The Honor Magic 8 Pro and OnePlus 15 both come with IP68 and IP69K ratings, meaning they can handle dust, water immersion, and even high-pressure water sprays.
The difference starts to show up in the type of materials used on both phones, though. OnePlus uses Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for display protection, while Honor relies on its in-house NanoCrystal Shield. On the back, OnePlus uses glass on some variants, whereas the Honor Magic 8 Pro uses a plastic-reinforced material, which feels slightly out of place on a flagship phone.
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
The differences start to narrow once we move to the front. The Honor Magic 8 Pro features a 6.71-inch LTPO OLED display with a refresh rate up to 120Hz and 4320Hz PWM dimming for better eye comfort. It supports Dolby Vision and HDR Vivid playback and can reach up to 6,000 nits of peak brightness during HDR content, though regular high brightness mode tops out at around 1,800 nits.
The OnePlus 15, meanwhile, comes with a slightly larger 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display that also supports Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HDR Vivid. One advantage the OnePlus 15 has is its higher 165Hz refresh rate, which gives it an edge in supported games, while the Honor Magic 8 Pro caps out at 120Hz. That said, the OnePlus 15 also maxes out at around 1,800 nits in high brightness mode, putting both phones on similar footing for outdoor visibility.
Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Hardware and specs
(Image credit: Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central)
Being 2026 flagships, you can expect top-end specs from both the OnePlus 15 and the Honor Magic 8 Pro, and that is exactly what they deliver. Both phones are powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, which is easily among the fastest and most efficient processors available right now for Android flagships.
Thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, both phones also support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. In terms of memory and storage, the Honor Magic 8 Pro comes in a single configuration with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The base variant of the OnePlus 15 also offers 12GB of RAM but only 256GB of storage, while the higher-end model bumps this up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
When it comes to battery and charging, both OnePlus and Honor have adopted silicon-carbon battery technology, allowing them to pack larger batteries into slimmer designs. The Magic 8 Pro houses a sizable 7,100mAh battery, just slightly smaller than the OnePlus 15’s 7,300mAh cell.
Both phones support extremely fast charging, with the Honor Magic 8 Pro offering up to 100W and the OnePlus 15 pushing it to 120W.
In real-world use, both phones should comfortably last a full day on a single charge, and topping them up should be quick regardless of how heavy your usage is. Any noticeable differences in battery life will likely come down to software optimization rather than hardware.
Swipe to scroll horizontallySpecifications
Category
Honor Magic 8 Pro
OnePlus 15
OS
Android 16, MagicOS 10
Seven major OS upgrades
Android 16, OxygenOS 16
Four major OS upgrades
Display
6.71-inch, LTPO OLED, 1256 x 2808 pixels, 120Hz, NanoCrystal Shield
6.78-inch, LTPO AMOLED, 1272 x 2772 pixels, 165Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
RAM
12GB
12GB / 16GB
Storage
512GB
256GB, 512GB
Rear cameras
50MP main + 200MP telephoto (3.7x zoom) + 50MP ultrawide
50MP main + 50MP telephoto (3.5x zoom) + 50MP ultrawide
Front camera
50MP
32MP
Ingress protection
IP68 + IP69K
IP68 + IP69K
Connectivity
Global 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, IR sensor
Global 5G, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, IR sensor
Security
Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), Face unlock, PIN, Pattern, Password
Fingerprint (under display, ultrasonic), Face unlock, PIN, Pattern, Password
Battery
7,100mAh
7,300mAh
Charging
100W USB-C fast charging
80W wireless charging
120W USB-C fast wired charging
50W wireless charging
Dimensions and weight
161.2 x 75 x 8.3 mm; 219g
161.4 x 76.7 x 8.1 mm; 211g
Colors
Sunrise Gold, Sky Cyan, Black, White
Infinite Black, Ultra Violet, Sand Storm
Speaking of which, let us talk about the software. The Honor Magic 8 Pro ships with Android 16 out of the box, layered with Honor’s own MagicOS 10. Like previous versions, MagicOS 10 looks eerily similar to iOS, with Honor borrowing quite a few UI elements for its own interface.
There is also no shortage of pre-installed Honor apps and bloatware on the Magic 8 Pro. The upside here is long-term support, as Honor is promising seven major OS updates for the phone, which is significantly more than the four major OS upgrades that the OnePlus 15 offers.
(Image credit: Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central)
The OnePlus 15, on the other hand, runs OxygenOS 16 based on Android 16 out of the box. Unlike Honor, OnePlus relies heavily on Google apps for most core functions, which results in a much cleaner and smoother software experience, in my opinion. Both phones also come loaded with a wide range of AI features, so you are not missing out on that front, regardless of which one you choose.
Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Cameras
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
Moving on to the camera systems, you expect flagship phones from Chinese smartphone makers to come with capable camera hardware, and both the OnePlus 15 and Honor Magic 8 Pro largely deliver on that front.
On the Honor Magic 8 Pro, you get a 50MP primary camera with an f/1.6 aperture, multi-directional PDAF, and OIS. This is paired with a 50MP ultra-wide sensor and a massive 200MP telephoto lens offering 3.7x optical zoom. Up front, Honor includes a 50MP selfie camera alongside a ToF 3D depth sensor.
Android Central’s Nicholas Sutrich went hands-on with the Magic 8 Pro cameras and came away impressed with the results. You can check out the camera samples from the Magic 8 Pro in his coverage.
(Image credit: Apoorva Bhardwaj / Android Central)
The OnePlus 15, meanwhile, features a triple-50MP camera setup. This includes a 50MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, multi-directional PDAF, and OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 50MP telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom. On the front, the OnePlus 15 uses a 32MP selfie camera.
While the OnePlus 15 no longer carries Hasselblad tuning, replacing it with OnePlus’ own DetailMax Engine, the cameras remain quite strong overall. We’ve also extensively tested the cameras on the OnePlus 15, and you can check out full camera samples in our detailed OnePlus 15 camera review.
Honor Magic 8 Pro vs. OnePlus 15: Which should you buy?
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)
Choosing between the OnePlus 15 and the Honor Magic 8 Pro largely comes down to availability. As mentioned earlier, the Magic 8 Pro is currently limited to a handful of global markets and is not available in North America, including the U.S. and Canada. The OnePlus 15, on the other hand, is available across most major global markets.
If both phones are available where you live, then it really comes down to personal preference. Both devices offer some of the best specs and features you can get on an Android flagship right now and should comfortably last you for years. They both pack large batteries with extremely fast charging, capable displays, and solid multimedia experiences, so you are not missing out either way.
The real difference lies in software. If you prefer a cleaner, faster version of Android, the OnePlus 15 is the safer bet, though it is limited to four major OS updates. MagicOS 10 on the Honor Magic 8 Pro looks heavily inspired by iOS, and if that does not bother you, it is a compelling option thanks to its longer software support, with up to seven years of major updates.
A proper Honor flagship
The Honor Magic 8 Pro is easily the most capable device Honor has released in a long time. It packs the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a large OLED display, and a big battery, while also offering long-term software support and a very capable camera setup.
Still OnePlus at heart
The OnePlus 15 represents a noticeable shift from OnePlus’ previous design direction and drops Hasselblad tuning, but it still feels very much like a OnePlus phone in many ways. It runs OxygenOS 16 out of the box and continues to dominate when it comes to battery life and charging, delivering one of the best experiences you can get on a smartphone right now.
