OnePlus pulled the wraps off the Ace 7 and Ace 7 Pro in China on Thursday, just under three weeks after the OnePlus 16, and right on the date it had already confirmed. Both phones are gaming-first machines built around big batteries, fast displays and, for the first time in this line, active cooling with a fan inside.
The headline split between the two models is the processor. The standard Ace 7 runs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 V series chip, a step down from the full Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 that powers the Ace 7 Pro. That gap, alongside camera hardware, is what separates the two devices. Everything else, display, cooling, battery and charging, carries over between them.
Both phones use a 6.78-inch 1.5K LTPO panel at 2772 x 1272 resolution, built on BOE and OnePlus's own X4 luminescent material. It hits 185Hz in supported games, with the system-wide refresh capped at 165Hz, a bump over the 165Hz ceiling on last year's OnePlus Ace 6.
Cooling gets a fan for the first time
The Ace 6 had no active cooling. The Ace 7 series does, with what OnePlus calls the Ice River dual-channel system, a small internal fan pushing air along two paths, one straight onto the chip and one toward the back panel. OnePlus says the setup can cut peak chip temperature by up to 10°C after an hour of Peacekeeper Elite running at 185fps, a figure that comes from the company's own testing rather than any independent measurement. There's also an AI-driven temperature sensor meant to predict heat buildup and adjust the fan before it spikes.
OnePlus has also bundled in three custom chips for gaming: a T3 touch chip it claims cuts swipe latency by 80 percent and tap latency by 43 percent, a G3 network chip for reducing online lag, and a P4 chip handling display tasks. The gyroscope supports sampling up to 800Hz in games.
Cameras and battery
Both models carry a 200MP main sensor and a 16MP selfie camera. Where the Ace 7 Pro adds a 50MP periscope telephoto with 3.5x optical zoom and support for 4K video at up to 120fps, 8K at 30fps and a flat Log color profile, the base Ace 7 settles for an 8MP ultrawide instead, with no telephoto at all.
Powering both is a 9000mAh battery with 100W SuperVOOC wired charging and bypass support, which lets the phone draw power straight from the charger during heavy use instead of routing it through the cell, easing heat and wear on the battery over time.
Other shared hardware includes a metal frame, 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, stereo speakers, an X-axis linear motor, NFC, an infrared blaster, and IP66, IP68, IP69 and IP69K ratings for dust and water resistance. Both ship on ColorOS 17 with OnePlus's Xiaobu Assistant, AI Tap, AI Notes and a multitasking feature called Fluid Cloud Fusion.
The OnePlus Ace 7 starts at ¥4,399, about $655, and the Ace 7 Pro starts at ¥4,799, about $715, with both going on sale in China immediately. The Ace line has historically stayed out of global markets, and with OnePlus having exited the US and Europe this year, neither phone looks likely to surface there officially.
India is a different story, at least on paper. Reports circulating ahead of the launch suggest the Ace 7 Pro could arrive in India as the OnePlus 16R, priced around Rs 75,000, though OnePlus has not confirmed any such plans or a launch window. Until that happens, buyers in India are left watching a phone they can't yet order.
MDFiled by The Mobile Desk
Phones from leak to launch to price cut: what was announced, what it costs where, and when it goes on sale. Indian launches and prices included, not appended.
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