Apple iPhone 15 review

The competition

Apple has been consistent with its base phone pricing, at least in the last few years. The iPhone 15 is no exception. Its MSRP for a base 128GB model is USD 799/GBP 799/EUR 949/INR 79,900/CNY 5,999/JPY 124,800 in the US, UK, Germany, India, China and Japan, respectively. In fact, looking at some historical pricing, in the UK and Germany, the base iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are now £50/€50 cheaper than the 14 and 14 Plus. Even so, that's a pretty hefty price tag, and there are plenty of alternatives to consider.

To be perfectly frank, if you are after an iPhone, chances are that you won't just go for an Android phone instead. At least, that's what most statistics nowadays claim. So, when examining the market alternatives, the first and probably most obvious choice would be to consider last year's iPhone 14 Pro model. It is currently selling for about as much as the vanilla iPhone 15. And sure, it is last year's model, which means that in relative terms, you will be getting shorter software support in the future. However, that's about the only downside to picking the iPhone 14 Pro instead of the iPhone 15. Well, that and buying into the now effectively defunct Lightning port. Other than that, you get the same A16 Bionic chipset on the inside and practically the same performance. Being a Pro model, however, the 14 Pro gets a few extra goodies like a 120Hz display refresh rate, a dedicated 3x, an OIS-enabled telephoto camera and extra camera features like ProRes.

Of course, if you've already made peace with using an older model with a Lightning port, then the other obvious choice would be the iPhone 14. You can save a substantial amount of money by going for it, but you will be missing out on some of the new additions and upgrades of the iPhone 15. Notably, the iPhone 14 has an older and less bright display with the signature notch design instead of the Dynamic Island. You will also have to settle for the old 12MP main camera instead of the fancy new 48MP one and its superior default 24MP stills.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro • Apple iPhone 14

Moving on to the Android realm and probably the most obvious competitor - the Samsung Galaxy S23. It is noticeably cheaper to buy than the iPhone 15, which is a plus. Besides that, it is roughly the same physical size and well-endowed as a proper flagship with various quality-of-life extras like great stereo speakers and an IP68 ingress protection rating. Compared to the iPhone 15, the Galaxy S23 does offer a 120Hz refresh rate on its Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, which doesn't get quite as bright as the panel on the iPhone but is still in the same ballpark. The Galaxy S23 also gets a dedicated 3x, OIS-enabled telephoto camera and a larger battery, which does result in slightly better battery life, but not by a lot.

While on the subject of Samsung flagships, it is worth noting that the Galaxy S23 Ultra can be had for about as much as a vanilla iPhone 15. Though, we can't exactly say that the two devices are good direct competitors, given the massive size difference.

It's back to compact devices then, and the Xperia 5 V. It is yet another proper flagship, housed in a relatively small chassis. The Xperia 5 V has a particularly interesting 6.1-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit color, BT.2020 HDR support and a 21:1 cinematic aspect ratio. You get excellent stereo speakers and a powerful dual rear camera system to accompany the display. Last but not least, the Xperia 5 V has a massive 5,000 mAh battery.

Speaking of compact Android flagships, we can't fail to mention the Asus Zenfone 10. Its 5.92-inch display is smaller still than the iPhone's and not as bright, but it does offer a 144Hz refresh rate. Despite the small size, Asus still managed to fit in stereo speakers, a 4,300 mAh battery and a powerful dual-rear camera system with a gimbal-OIS setup on the main cam.

Samsung Galaxy S23 • Sony Xperia 5 V • Asus Zenfone 10 • Xiaomi 13

Finally, we should also mention the Google Pixel 7a, which is equally compact and has a similar set of cameras. It represents the best Google currently offers, including clean and snappy AOSP OS and some of the best computational photography around. It's also considerably cheaper than the iPhone 15, and it's got a 90Hz refresh rate screen. Its battery life, however, is a bit behind the iPhone's.

Over in camp Xiaomi, the Xiaomi 13 seems like a good competitor to the iPhone 15. It has a slightly larger 6.36-inch, 120Hz AMOLED display that also gets extremely bright. There are stereo speakers on board, as well as IP68 ingress protection. In terms of cameras, the Xiaomi 13 is rocking three on the back, including a 50MP main snapper, a 3.2x OIS-enabled telephoto and a 12MP ultrawide. The onboard battery is a hefty 4,500 mAh pack, and the Xiaomi 13 gets very speedy 67W wired fast charging.

Our verdict

As much as we like offering Android-powered alternatives to the iPhone, by all major accounts and statistics, Apple's smartphone lineup is currently, more or less, an isolated island. That is to say that not many people are jumping ship one way or the other with Android. If we assume that is indeed the case and that an iPhone user will inevitably also be an iPhone buyer at some point, then it makes sense to mostly look at the iPhone 15 in the context of Apple's own selection of devices.

If historical data is anything to go by, the vanilla iPhone 15 won't be the most popular of the iPhone 15 lot. That title will likely go to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That doesn't mean it will be unpopular, though. Quite the contrary. Apple has one of the most robust market research operations, and you can rest assured that if Apple deems it so, there is definitely an iPhone 15-shaped spot in its lineup.

As far as innovations go, the iPhone 15 brings a lot more to the table compared to its predecessor. The all-new and incredibly bright OLED display is a great step forward, and we appreciate Apple finally unifying its design with Dynamic Island across all models. And speaking of unification, Type-C was a long-overdue change. The other major novelty this year must be the new 48MP main camera. We found it to be excellent all-around and a noticeable improvement over last year's 12MP cam.

The bottom line here is that, in our view, Apple has again managed to strike the delicate balance between familiarity and meaningful innovation - enough to justify an upgrade to the iPhone 15 from an older vanilla iPhone model. And as usual, the Android realm has better hardware and overall value to offer, though that almost seems irrelevant and beside the point.

Pros

• Subtle redesign makes it more comfortable to hold and use; we like the new colors.
• Great build quality, water-resistant up to 6m deep, industry-leading front glass scratch and shatter resistance.
• Extremely bright OLED screen, HDR10, Dolby Vision and excellent color accuracy, and now the more modern-looking Dynamic Island.
• USB-C is here, and we love it.
• Solid battery life for the size.
• Excellent loudspeaker quality.
• Great all-around performance.
• Great photo and video quality across all three cameras.
• Every iPhone comes with at least five years of iOS updates.

Cons

• A lot more expensive than corresponding Android alternatives.
• The display is 60Hz; there is no Always On option, and the bezels are thicker than the Pro models.
• No charger in the box, and charging isn't particularly fast.
• Apple's iOS restrictions can be off-putting to newcomers to the ecosystem.
• No dedicated telephoto camera or autofocus on the ultrawide.