OnePlus 15 might trick you into believing you’ll get a killer display, but beware of the downgrade

OnePlus is expected to release its next flagship smartphone in the coming months with various improvements over the OnePlus 13. One of the key upgrades appears to be on the display, which may have a higher refresh rate, but at the price of a worse resolution.

OnePlus 15 may feature a 165Hz refresh rate display, according to the latest information shared (source in Chinese) by the leaker Digital Chat Station. However, the smoother display may also have a lower resolution and utilize a 1.5K panel.

Alongside the improved refresh rate of the display, OnePlus might also be developing a new performance engine for the device. That could allow the OnePlus 15 to run games at 165 FPS, which would match the display’s refresh rate.

In the same leak, Digital Chat Station says the device will have a new super black color, which may be called Moon Rock Black. Earlier rumors claimed that it would be a brand-new type of black, which would look more black than other versions.

We’ve already heard that the OnePlus 15 may have a lower-resolution display than the OnePlus 13. The new flagship is expected to have a 6.78-inch 1.5K display, which would be slightly smaller than the 6.82-inch 2K screen on the OnePlus 13. We’ve also heard that OnePlus might have tested a higher refresh rate display.The leading smartphone companies are lagging behind some Chinese devices, which already offer higher specs, including displays with a higher refresh rate. The leading ultra-flagships, such as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, iPhone 16 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro, support up to 120Hz. However, the vanilla iPhone 16 supports only 60Hz, which is probably the most baffling spec on an Apple smartphone.

Going beyond 120Hz refresh rate might sound good on paper, but I wouldn’t get too excited about such a feature. The leading smartphones are already smooth enough, and mobile gaming isn’t a good enough reason to look for such specs.