OnePlus isn’t resting on its laurels after the successful launch of the excellent OnePlus Open foldable. On Weibo, the company has teased an event next week where it promises to showcase a “historic moment of the Chinese screen," in collaboration with BOE Technology.
That’s a typically cryptic invitation, but the reliable leaker Digital Chat Station has provided a bit more clarity elsewhere on the platform. The leaker suggests that the companies have managed to create a 1440p panel that peaks at a searing 3,000 nits of brightness.
For context, that’s very bright indeed. Apple made a big deal of the iPhone 15 hitting 2,000 nits, and recently the Pixel 8 Pro hit 2,400. Indeed, the only thing running this close is also from OnePlus — with the company claiming the OnePlus Open can hit 2,800 nits.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra has been tipped for a 2,500-nit display, so this new panel could be Samsung's upcoming flagship, too.
The leak also suggests that the screen could pack 2,160Hz PWM dimming, which would be helpful for those who tend to get eye strain after too much time on their smartphones.
The question is what this screen is for, and the obvious candidate is the OnePlus 12. Though the OnePlus 11 only debuted in January of this year, the release cycle could be bumped up with an earlier release of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, as smartphone makers compete to be the first to fly out of the traps with the fastest processor.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the upcoming Qualcomm Summit, where the company unveils new Snapdragon tech, is scheduled October 24-26 rather than its usual November/December date. That coincides neatly with the OnePlus event on October 24.
Sometimes coincidences are just coincidences, however. For one thing, it’s pretty much unheard of for a company to tease a smartphone launch without referencing a smartphone — even if it’s just a close-up of a camera lens. In other words, even if this tech does ultimately end up in the OnePlus 12, the announcement of the smartphone may be some way down the road.
To put another possible dent in this, previously Digital Chat Station had suggested that the OnePlus 12’s screen’s peak brightness “seems to be 2,600nit”. Perhaps this early information was faulty, but even if it isn’t, 2,600 nits is still not exactly dim.
Either way, the OnePlus 12 is certainly a smartphone that should be on your radar, if you’re into Android. As well as a super bright screen and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, rumor has it that OnePlus will allow buyers to include up to 24GB RAM and 1TB of storage in their handset. Big upgrades to the camera array and a chunky 5,400mAh battery are also expected.
