OnePlus 9 Pro battery life could be stellar, thanks to this one small display feature
120Hz without the constant battery drain
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One of the latest big crazes in the smartphone industry is high refresh rates - this means the screen updates more frequently, and it can make motion look a tiny bit smoother. The downside to this is that higher refresh rates can drain the battery quickly - however, it looks like theOnePlus 9series might not have that issue.
According to prolific leakerMax Jambor, the OnePlus 9 Pro will use LTPO technology in its display. To cut a long and needlessly-technical explanation of LTPO down to its relevant details, this means it’s possible the phone will get a variable refresh rate.
A variable refresh rate means a phone will automatically change its refresh rate between 10Hz and a maximum of around 120Hz, depending on what you’re doing. If you need a high refresh rate, like if you’re scrolling social media or playing a game, you’ll get it, but if you’re doing a task that wouldn’t benefit from the refresh rate, like streaming a movie with a framerate cap, the phone will go with a lower rate.
The OnePlus 9 Pro having a variable refresh rate would give it all the benefits of a 120Hz display, as theOnePlus 8 Prohad, but without the battery drain problems that refresh rate will bring. Sounds like a win-win to us.
But what about the OnePlus 9?
Jambor didn’t publicly comment on the likelihood of the OnePlus 9 getting LTPO, but according toPhoneArena, Jambor “clarified privately” that the series' “standard” device would stick with an unchanging 120Hz display.
So it sounds like the vanilla OnePlus 9 will keep the same refresh rate as theOnePlus 8T, but without the 9 Pro’s battery-saving feature. Of course, if you want a new OnePlus phone and don’t care about display refresh rate, you can just hop into the settings menu and turn it down.
It’s no surprise that the OnePlus 9 Pro would get a few improvements over its sibling, and this is likely just one of many, but we’ll have to wait until the phones get announced to find out for sure. We’re expecting to see the devices launched sometime in March or April 2021, so clear your calendars for then.
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Tom Bedford was deputy phones editor on TechRadar until late 2022, having worked his way up from staff writer. Though he specialized in phones and tablets, he also took on other tech like electric scooters, smartwatches, fitness, mobile gaming and more. He is based in London, UK and now works for the entertainment site What To Watch.
He graduated in American Literature and Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Prior to working on TechRadar, he freelanced in tech, gaming and entertainment, and also spent many years working as a mixologist.
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