OnePlus 15 lands first phone display with native 165 Hz refresh rate at 1.5K resolution
Display making juggernaut BOE already teased that the upcoming OnePlus 15 flagship will sport one of the best phone screens out there, and the official unveiling of its third-gen X3 panel didn't disappoint.
Developed in collaboration with OnePlus, the new screen "is the world's first to achieve a native 165 Hz high refresh rate and 1-nit low-luminance display" characteristics at 1.5K resolution, claims BOE. To top it all off, the panel is produced at the Oppo production lines, and Oppo pioneered phone displays with high dynamic refresh rate and wide color gamut coverage with factory calibration at the pixel level for each individual phone.
Credible color representation and fast visuals aside, the BOE panel on the OnePlus 15 comes with the display maker's latest LTPO 2.0 technology that brings longer lifespan and lower power consumption. "The 3rd generation Oriental panel uses the X3 luminescent material that BOE jointly developed with OnePlus," says BOE, and adds that it hit excellent marks on all nine major display evaluation characteristics. Besides longer life, the new X3 organic material allows for more credible white balance when observed at an angle. It, for example, gets rid of the green tint issue that has become a hot topic with the iPhone 17 Pro series.
The ability to come down to a single nit of brightness is rather impressive for one of the fastest phone display out there that can go up to native 165 Hz refresh rate during fast-paced gaming, too. BOE and OnePlus cite a brightness boost of 13% compared to the OnePlus 13 that is already discounted on Amazon, returning about 1,800 nits.
While that might not sound as impressive as those phones with 3,000-6,000 nits bandied about lately, it's the typical brightness that BOE chose to advertise, rather than the peak that measures only a tiny section of the screen at full power when displaying white. It's such a niche scenario that it is only good for the lab and specs bragging, while 1,800 nits of typical brightness would be a commendable achievement for the OnePlus 15 display, considering all of its other virtues.
OnePlus 15 display specs
- 165 Hz refresh rate: one of the fastest phone screens out there, good for gaming.
- 1 nit minimal brightness: very low, for more comfortable viewing at night.
- 1,800 nits typical brightness
- 6.87 inch diagonal
- 1.5K resolution
- LTPO 2.0 OLED display: increased longevity and lower power draw.
In addition, Oppo has lent its latest P3 display driver for the OnePlus 15, ensuring more granular refresh rate adaptation based on the content shown, as well as uniform brightness and color representation even at very low or very high brightness and refresh rate levels.
The only fly in all that display honey is the fact that OnePlus had to chose 1.5K instead of 2K 1440p resolution for the new screen. It wasn't done to save costs, argues OnePlus, as the BOE X3 screen is actually more expensive than the 1440p panel in the OnePlus 13, but simply because a 2K panel with 165 Hz refresh doesn't yet exist.
Due to limitations in luminescent materials and circuit technology, the industry is currently unable to achieve the 165Hz and 2K specifications simultaneously. The 165Hz + 1.5K X3 screen is the optimal solution and a pinnacle of mobile phone display technology. Prior to it, the highest resolution for 165Hz ultra-high refresh rate screens on mobile phones was only 1080p. This X3 screen is the industry's first 165Hz + 1.5K screen. After years of market validation, 1.5K screens are now an excellent balance of top-tier display quality and power efficiency on many flagship phones from major brands, so there's no need to worry about the actual experience. Second, the 165Hz ultra-high refresh rate offers an unprecedented smooth experience and is the future of mobile phone screens.
Besides the OnePlus 15, BOE and Oppo are likely to use the new X3 OLED with LTPO 2.0 technology for the upcoming Find X9 series as well.
