- The OnePlus 15T apparently has thin bezels
- OnePlus’ Li Jie Loui called them “the most visually narrow bezels” among all small-screen phones.
- However, the OnePlus 16 could surpass it with other substantial updates.
OnePlus is making direct changes to Apple as the first teasers for the OnePlus 15T are here, and the OnePlus 16 also just received an interesting camera leak.
Starting with the OnePlus 15T, OnePlus China President Li Jie Loui took to social media to claim that the compact device has ultra-thin bezels on all sides. Taking things a step further, he claimed that OnePlus’ next phone could have the “visually narrowest bezels” among all small-screen phones, “perhaps even in the world” (automatically translated from Chinese to English).
He said this milestone was achieved through “a series of innovative display packaging technologies” along with chipset and production line improvements.
His post showed an image of his company’s next phone in front of what appears to be an iPhone 17 Pro based on the shape and orange color, and the OnePlus 15T actually has slimmer bezels than this one. The iPhone 17 Pro has 1.44mm bezels, although the regular OnePlus 15 already has 1.15mm bezels, so the difference would probably be less stark if the 15T were compared to the company’s own devices.
Unfortunately, like previous OnePlus T launches, the 15T is likely to be a China-exclusive product, although unlike some China-exclusive launches, this isn’t one I’m crying about.
Sure, smaller bezels allow compact phones to be even more size-efficient, either by slimming their chassis without losing screen size or by keeping the chassis a similar size while making the screen a little larger. I’m not that worried about sub-1mm improvements in bezel thickness. However, if that’s something you care a lot about, you might want to start finding a way to import this version, or wait for the OnePlus 16.
The real next OnePlus flagship
Likely to launch globally based on OnePlus history, the flagship OnePlus 16 is already leaking and its bezels are designed to be smaller than 1mm (via NotebookCheck).
Additionally, its battery capacity is rumored to be 9000 mAh (more than double the 4175 mAh capacity of the Samsung Galaxy S26), it could boast a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chipset, its display could have a 240 Hz refresh rate and, if leaks are to be believed, joining its 200 MP main sensor is a 200 MP periscope lens.
All rumors and leaks should be taken with a pinch of salt, but OnePlus’ hardware has been ahead of the competition in recent years, and I wouldn’t be surprised if its next flagship, the OnePlus 16, continued this trend.
These advances could be especially potent this year, where rivals’ innovation is expected to be overshadowed by price increases driven by the RAM crisis. Just look at the recent launch of the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, the new devices have some useful new AI features and the Ultra has its privacy screen, but overall the technology is a bit lackluster despite costing more (at least for the base and Plus models) than last year.
If OnePlus can deliver great value for money despite industry headwinds, it could win over customers from its rivals, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and tiktok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
