The upcoming OnePlus flagship – the OnePlus 9 Pro – has appeared in some massive leaks in the past couple of weeks. Now, a fresh leak suggests that the upcoming device will come equipped with an LTPO display, similar to the one we saw on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra earlier this year.

LTPO brings adaptive refresh rate to the table, which in turn saves battery

The new information comes from tipster Max J. who has a solid track record with OnePus leaks. Now, what is an LTPO display though? In simple terms, an LTPO (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) is a special kind of backplane technology designed for OLED screens that brings one key advantage to the table – adaptive refresh rate. 

https://twitter.com/MaxJmb/status/1362384304937041922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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What this means is the screen refresh rate will automatically increase or decrease based on the type of content you’re watching. For example, reading an article would bring down the refresh rate value to around 10Hz (even lower if allowed), while watching videos and playing high fps games will set it anywhere between 30Hz to 120Hz to provide a smooth viewing experience. 

LTPO panel will likely be exclusive to OnePlus 9 Pro, and won't be used on the vanilla OnePlus 9

And with the screen adjusting its refresh rate dynamically, it ends up saving some battery juice. Rather than sticking to a fixed 60/90/120Hz refresh rate for all tasks and changing it based on the on-screen content, using a high-refresh display on a phone becomes less taxing on the battery by going with the LTPO technology. However, an LTPO panel will be exclusive to the OnePlus 9 Pro, and won’t be used on the standard OnePlus 9, as per PhoneArena

However, LTPO technology is not exactly new. Apple used it first on the Apple Watch Series 4, and it allowed Apple to offer an always-on display mode without draining the battery. Samsung brought this technology to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold, and most recently, used it on the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Apple is also expected to equip its upcoming iPhones with a 120Hz LTPO panel this year