OnePlus 15 features display with lower resolution and one deal-breaker limitation no one is talking about

OnePlus 15OnePlus 15

OnePlus has launched the OnePlus 15 smartphone. The phone is priced starting at Rs 72,999 which not only is more expensive than the launch price of OnePlus 13, but also comes with several downgrades over it. But, there's one thing that might become a deal breaker for you.

What's the limitation? 

Well, that's display. You heard it right -- the one thing that's most used in a smartphone has been downgraded by OnePlus in OnePlus 15. The new model features a 1.5K resolution screen compared to the much higher -- 2K resolution in OnePlus 13. Now, OnePlus says that this trade-off is made to achieve a 165Hz refresh rate. But, who cares --literally -- especially when 165Hz is appears to be more or gimmik -- at this moment.

Wondering how? Let me explain

165Hz refresh rate -- a good feature for advertising the phone . But what's the real truth behind it.  This advertised 165Hz refresh rate, however, comes with a significant limitation not central to marketing. The 165Hz mode is not for general use. What this means, is when you are doing you daily cores on the phone like browsing, chatting, watching videos, even gaming (mostly), the phone limits the display to 120Hz or 1-120Hz via adaptive mode.

So where do you get the real -- 165Hz-- refresh rate?

The 165Hz limitation

165Hz refresh rate is reserved almost exclusively for supported gaming applications. For general use, such as browsing the operating system or scrolling through social media, the display operates at a maximum of 120Hz. And, not that, OnePlus is trying to hide this fact from the buyers -- they've clearly mentioned this in the specifications of the phone -- "165Hz in Gaming".

Coming back to the point. You might be thinking that there are 100s of titles out there that support 165Hz gaming. Right? Well, you could not be more wrong. The list is so small, it can be counted on fingers.

Call of Duty: Mobile
Delta Force
Arena Breakout
League of Legends: Wild Rift
Naruto Mobile
BGMI

These are some or most -- but there could be a couple of more titles -- but not many.  So, this is where the the OnePlus' 165Hz will be activated and you can use it. That's it.

The resolution downgrade
Another  downgrade -- the widely discussed change is the phone's 1.5K resolution (1272 x 2772 pixels). This is a step down from the QHD+ (2K) resolution panels used in previous OnePlus flagship models. OnePlus stated this change was a technical necessity, claiming a QHD+ screen at 165Hz is not currently feasible.

Is the trade-off worth it

Well, the lower resoltion trade-off helps in several aspects -- helps with the improved battery life -- but the phone comes with massive 7300mAh battery and it barely feels the need to tone-down the resolution here. In that case, the resolution reduction for 165Hz feels like -- cutting corners and nothing more.

The takeaway here is: If you are planning to buy the OnePlus 15 for the 165Hz refresh rate, then you might want to rethink you decision. If that's not enough, here's a list of all the downgrades that OnePlus 15 comes with over OnePlus 13.