Home > Smartphone comparison > iQOO 15R vs Nova 15 Max – which one to choose?

Vivo iQOO 15R vs Huawei Nova 15 Max

84 out of 100
Vivo iQOO 15R
VS
68 out of 100
Huawei Nova 15 Max
Vivo iQOO 15R
Huawei Nova 15 Max

Here we compared two mid-range smartphones: the 6.59-inch Vivo iQOO 15R (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5) that was released on February 24, 2026, against the Huawei Nova 15 Max, which is powered by HiSilicon Kirin 8000 and came out 2 months after. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
8 / 256 GB
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Vivo iQOO 15R
  • 4x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (3047K versus 768K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 144 Hz
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
  • Optical image stabilization
  • Waterproof body (IP69 classification)
  • Supports higher wattage charging (100W versus 40W)
  • More recent OS version: Android 16 versus 12
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
  • The front-facing camera can record video at 4K
Reasons to consider the Huawei Nova 15 Max
  • Comes with 900 mAh larger battery capacity: 8500 vs 7600 mAh

Review

Evaluation of Vivo iQOO 15R and Huawei Nova 15 Max crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
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Value for money (Beta)

To get an accurate value-for-money index, update the default prices with actual prices from your country’s retailers (for the selected memory configs) and press the "Calculate" button.
Currency
8 / 256 GB
VS
8 / 256 GB
101.9
(Excellent)
Value Index
62.7
(Average)

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
iQOO 15R
vs
Nova 15 Max

Display

Type AMOLED OLED
Size 6.59 inches 6.84 inches
Resolution 1260 x 2750 pixels 1272 x 2756 pixels
Aspect ratio 19.5:9 19.5:9
PPI 459 ppi 444 ppi
Refresh rate 144 Hz 120 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) Yes (60-120 Hz)
Max rated brightness 1800 nits -
Max rated brightness in HDR 5000 nits 4000 nits
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10
Touch sampling rate 360 Hz 300 Hz
Screen protection Tempered glass Tempered glass
Screen-to-body ratio 90.8% 90.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
- DC Dimming
Screen space comparison
Nova 15 Max
6.84″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 17.8 in2
iQOO 15R
6.59″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 16.5 in2
~7% more screen space

Design and build

Height 157.61 mm (6.21 inches) 163.3 mm (6.43 inches)
Width 74.42 mm (2.93 inches) 78 mm (3.07 inches)
Thickness 7.9 mm (0.31 inches) 7.98 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 202 g (7.13 oz) 232 g (8.18 oz)
Waterproof IP69 IP65
Advanced cooling Vapor chamber -
Rear material Glass Plastic
Frame material Metal Plastic
Colors Black, Silver Black, Gold, Blue
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, in-button
Screen-to-body ratio
iQOO 15R +1%
90.8%
Nova 15 Max
90.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Vivo iQOO 15R and Huawei Nova 15 Max
SoC
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 HiSilicon Kirin 8000
Max clock 3800 MHz 2400 MHz
CPU cores 8 (2 + 6) 8 (1 + 3 + 4)
Architecture - 6 cores at 3.32 GHz: Oryon Performance
- 2 cores at 3.8 GHz: Oryon Prime		 - 4 cores at 1.84 GHz: A55
- 3 cores at 2.19 GHz: 1xA77 L
- 1 core at 2.4 GHz: 1xA77 H
L3 cache 6 MB -
Manufacturing TSMC SMIC
Lithography process 3 nanometers 7 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Hexagon Yes
GPU
Graphics Adreno 829 Mali-G610 MP4
GPU shading units 1024 -
GPU clock 1225 MHz 864 MHz
FLOPS ~2508.8 GFLOPS ~442.3 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Vivo iQOO 15R and Huawei Nova 15 Max
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
iQOO 15R +204%
2766
Nova 15 Max
909
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
iQOO 15R +272%
8923
Nova 15 Max
2399
Compute Score (GPU)
iQOO 15R
17303
Nova 15 Max
n/a
Compute Score (GPU) 17303 -
Single-core score 2766 909
Multi-core score 8923 2399
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
iQOO 15R +297%
3047741
Nova 15 Max
768256
CPU 899582 286921
GPU 1036833 99696
Memory 415773 198324
UX 695553 201315
Total score 3047741 768256
Samples [24 tests] Less than 3
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#104th place)
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Vivo iQOO 15R
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-30 (F2I4)AnTuTu 123102899
📘 2026-09-29 (dpicugin)AnTuTu 123071402
📘 2026-09-26 (johnny)AnTuTu 123101545
📘 2026-09-25 (Izumi)AnTuTu 123394118
📘 2026-09-24 (Max)AnTuTu 123215528
Add View all (38)
Huawei Nova 15 Max
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-09-24 (أبْا صَالِحُ)AnTuTu 12863749
📘 2026-07-27 (أبْا صَالِحُ)Geekbench 6 CPU909 / 2399
📘 2026-07-25 (أبْا صَالِحُ)Geekbench 6 GPU2309
📘 2026-07-23 (أبْا صَالِحُ)Geekbench 6 CPU909 / 2382
📘 2026-07-23 (أبْا صَالِحُ)AnTuTu 11768256
Add View all (5)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 8 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 5300 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 256 GB 256 GB
Storage type UFS 4.1 -
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 16 Android 12
ROM OriginOS 6 14.2
OS updates 5 years -
Security updates 5 years -

Battery

Capacity 7600 mAh 8500 mAh
Max charge power 100 W 40 W
Battery type Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) Silicon-Carbon (Si/C)
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging No No
Reverse charging Yes Yes
Bypass charging Yes No
Fast charging Yes (53% in 30 min) Yes
Full charging time 0:57 hr -
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 50 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 8192 x 6144
Zoom Digital (lossless), 2x Digital
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 30FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) -
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 8 MP
1) Standard: 50 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode		 - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 50 MP
Aperture f/1.8 f/1.9
Focal length - 23 mm
Sensor Sony LYT-700V -
Sensor size 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch)
Pixel size 1 micron -
Autofocus Phase autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Digital
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 8 MP -
Aperture f/2.2 -
Focal length 15 mm -
Sensor size 1/4.0" (≈ 0.25 inch) -
Stabilization Digital -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 32 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 6528 x 4896 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.0
Sensor GalaxyCore GC32E1 CMOS
Sensor size 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) -
Pixel size 0.7 micron -
Autofocus No No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 6.0 5.2
Bluetooth features LE LE
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes No
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port Yes Yes
Network
Number of SIM* 2 2
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode Standby Standby
eSIM support* No No
Hybrid slot No No
5G support Yes Yes

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No No

Other

Category Mid-range Mid-range
Announced February 2026 May 2026
Release date March 2026 May 2026
Launch price (MSRP) $495 $499
Sensors - Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Yes, 100 W Not included
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Vivo iQOO 15R is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
2 (100%)
0 (0%)
Total votes: 2

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