OnePlus reveals a clever new feature ahead of its October 29 smartphone launch

OnePlus has officially confirmed that its upcoming Ace 7 series will launch in China soon. The lineup, comprising the Ace 7 and Ace 7 Pro, will introduce a new active cooling system designed to maintain high frame rates during extended gaming sessions. The company has also revealed additional details about the technology, including an unusual dual-airflow design that takes inspiration from desktop graphics cards.

According to OnePlus China President Li Jie, the Ace 7 series employs two separate airflow channels, each serving a different purpose. The first directs air towards the processor to dissipate heat generated during demanding workloads, while the second circulates cooler air across the rear panel. The latter is intended to address an often-overlooked problem with gaming smartphones: the discomfort caused by holding a hot device for extended periods.

OnePlus has also incorporated tower-style metal cooling fins, similar to those commonly found in desktop graphics cards and CPU coolers. These increase the surface area available for heat dissipation, allowing the integrated fan to carry heat away more efficiently. While the underlying principle is fairly commonplace, fitting such a structure into the considerably smaller confines of a smartphone presents its own engineering challenges.

The company has also optimised the placement of the air intake and exhaust for landscape gaming, with the intake positioned to minimise obstruction from the user’s fingers. Hot air is expelled upwards, away from users’ hands. Meanwhile, the second airflow channel directs cooler air along the rear cover to improve comfort and potentially reduce sweating during longer gaming sessions.

A dedicated temperature sensor and intelligent fan-control algorithms reportedly allow the cooling system to adjust its operation according to thermal conditions. OnePlus claims the arrangement can reduce gaming temperatures by up to 10°C while maintaining stable frame rates. However, the company has not provided sufficiently detailed testing conditions or a clear comparison baseline for the figure. Consequently, the claimed improvement should be treated with caution until independent testing establishes how the cooling system performs under sustained loads.

As for the remaining specifications, previous leaks suggest the Ace 7 Pro will feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, accompanied by a 6.78-inch OLED display with a 1.5K resolution and a 185 Hz refresh rate. The standard Ace 7 could use a slightly different variant of the same chipset. Both smartphones are also rumoured to feature batteries of about 9,000 mAh and 200 MP primary cameras, while the Pro could also get a 50 MP periscope telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom.

For now, OnePlus has only confirmed the Chinese unveiling, scheduled for October 29, 2026, which is when we should know more about its gaming prowess. 

Anil Ganti - Senior Tech Writer - 3139 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2019

I've been an avid PC gamer since the age of 8. My passion for gaming eventually pushed me towards general tech, and I got my first writing gig at the age of 19. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and have worked in the manufacturing industry and a few other publications like Wccftech before joining Notebookcheck in November 2019. I cover a variety of topics including smartphones, gaming, and computer hardware.