iQOO has launched the iQOO 16 in China. The flagship gets a Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chipset, Q4 gaming chip, 165Hz Samsung M16 OLED display, triple 50MP camera and an 8,400mAh battery.
Display
The iQOO 16 has a 6.85-inch Samsung Everest LTPO OLED panel co-developed with Samsung Display.
Display specifications:
- 3168 × 1440 resolution, 508ppi
- 1–165Hz LTPO refresh rate
- Samsung M16 material
- LEAD 2.0
- 500Hz multi-finger touch sampling
- up to 5,000Hz instant touch sampling
- 2,800 nits HBM
- up to 10,000 nits local peak brightness
- 3,300Hz PWM dimming
The iQOO 15 used the same 6.85-inch 3168 × 1440 resolution but was limited to 144Hz and used Samsung M14 material. The iQOO 16 therefore increases the maximum refresh rate to 165Hz and moves to the newer M16 panel generation.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and Q4
The iQOO 16 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, manufactured on a 2nm process. The iQOO 15 used the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The dedicated gaming processor has also been upgraded from Q3 to Q4.
Snapdragon handles the main CPU/GPU workload, while the Q4 chip provides additional processing for gaming features.
Cooling is handled by a vapor chamber with an area of approximately 8,500mm². Memory options include 12GB and 16GB of LPDDR5X Ultra RAM. The 16GB/1TB model uses LPDDR5X Ultra Pro. Storage is UFS 4.1.
Cameras
The rear system consists of three 50MP cameras:
- Main: 50MP OmniVision OV50Q, 1/1.3-inch, OIS, LOFIC+
- Ultrawide: 50MP GalaxyCore GC50F0
- Telephoto: 50MP Sony LYT-600 periscope, OIS
The front camera is 32MP. The iQOO 15 also had a 50MP + 50MP + 50MP configuration, but its main camera used a smaller 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX921 sensor. Its 3x periscope used the Sony IMX882.
The main upgrade is therefore sensor size rather than resolution: 1/1.56-inch → 1/1.3-inch.
iQOO 16 vs iQOO 15
| Specification | iQOO 16 | iQOO 15 |
| Display | 6.85" LTPO OLED | 6.85" AMOLED |
| Resolution | 3168 × 1440 | 3168 × 1440 |
| Refresh rate | 165Hz | 144Hz |
| OLED material | Samsung M16 | Samsung M14 |
| SoC | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
| Process | 2nm | 3nm |
| Gaming chip | Q4 | Q3 |
| RAM | Up to 16GB | Up to 16GB |
| Storage | UFS 4.1, up to 1TB | UFS 4.1, up to 1TB |
| Main camera | 50MP, 1/1.3", OIS | 50MP, 1/1.56", OIS |
| Ultrawide | 50MP | 50MP |
| Periscope | 50MP LYT-600, OIS | 50MP IMX882, OIS |
| Front camera | 32MP | 32MP |
| Battery | 8,400mAh | 7,000mAh |
| Wired charging | 100W | 100W |
| Wireless charging | 40W | 40W |
| OS | Android 17 / OriginOS 7 | Android 16 / OriginOS 6 |
| Protection | IP68/IP69 | IP68/IP69 |
8,400mAh battery
Battery capacity increases from 7,000mAh in the iQOO 15 to 8,400mAh in the iQOO 16, a 20% increase.
Charging speeds remain unchanged:
100W wired + 40W wireless
Reverse charging is also supported.
Connectivity and other hardware
The iQOO 16 includes:
- Wi-Fi 7
- Bluetooth 5.4
- NFC
- IR blaster
- USB 3.2 Gen 1
- ultrasonic fingerprint sensor
- dual 1511 Master Pro stereo speakers
- X+Z dual-axis linear motor
- IP68/IP69 protection
It ships with Android 17 and OriginOS 7.
Dimensions and weight
| Version | Thickness | Weight |
| Track | 8.30mm | 222.5g |
| Legend | 8.40mm | 227.9g |
| Chasing Light | 8.55mm | 229.8g |
Colors are Track, Legend and Chasing Light.
Price
| Configuration | China price | Approx. USD |
| 12GB + 256GB | CNY 5,999 | $894 |
| 12GB + 512GB | CNY 6,799 | $1,013 |
| 16GB + 512GB | CNY 7,499 | $1,118 |
| 16GB + 1TB | CNY 8,499 | $1,267 |
Compared with the iQOO 15, the main hardware changes are Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, Q4 gaming chip, 165Hz Samsung M16 display, larger 1/1.3-inch main camera sensor and an 8,400mAh battery. Charging power, screen resolution and the 50MP + 50MP + 50MP camera layout remain largely unchanged.
Read more about: OnePlus 16 Specs: 9,000mAh Battery, 2nm Snapdragon and 200MP Camera
