OnePlus has officially teased the OnePlus 16 flagship device in China by confirming a huge display upgrade before release. The company has announced that the device will support a 165Hz refresh rate system-wide, so that the ultra-smooth experience is not limited to a few games and apps. The device will probably be released in China later this year, but OnePlus has not announced a specific date yet.
The 165Hz option is mostly notable because the prior OnePlus 15 did have a 165Hz panel, but the maximum refresh rate was at first limited to a handful of supported games and most of the system interface and normal applications ran at reduced refresh rates. OnePlus later added support to a handful of apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, and X though via software updatesbut not the entire system.
Yet, OnePlus seem to be doing something different with the OnePlus 16. The standard display settings for the new phone are reported to enable 165Hz operation without users having to enable Developer Options. The actual behaviour to be experienced remains uncertain, but it is known that the high refresh rate will be enabled on system apps, and supported third party apps downloaded from the Play Store.
A 165Hz display allows animations scrolling touch interaction and compatible games to appear smoother than a standard 60Hz or 120Hz display. This difference can be seen more clearly for gaming where the responsiveness of controls and general movement feel more natural when the game has adequately high frame rates.
OnePlus is also marketing the phone as a gaming device, but have only released some information about three gaming technologies to be present in the upcoming flagship. These technologies include the Wind Chaser Gaming Core, high-refresh-rate technology, and an E-Sports Triple-Chip system all of which have yet to be fully explained on a technical level.
The OnePlus 16 is also speculated to be one of the first few OnePlus smartphones to debut with ColorOS 17 on the new Android 17 platform in China. The software is speculated to include the company’s latest UI and system features to the new flagship, albeit some pieces would depend on the final software version and region.
On top of the official specifications released about the display and software, many more specifications have been revealed through the leaks and certification pages. A recent report states a OnePlus device thought to be the OnePlus 16 has been approved by China’s 3C with support for a 100W wired charge. Other reports suggest the device may have a 9,000mAh battery, a 200MP primary camera and the Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro processor. These specifications have not all been confirmed by OnePlus and so are to be taken as reported specifications.
Display will also likely be another key feature of the phone. There have been rumors of a BOE or Oriental Screen X4 panel coming as a new-generation display, possibly with a better circuitry for the device’s high refresh rate. OnePlus has confirmed it will have a 165Hz system-wide experience but has not yet officially announced all the hardware of its panel.
