Today, the OnePlus 16 launched in China, the company’s first flagship phone since it left the US and European markets this summer. Coincidentally, it also appears to be the company’s best phone in a while.
Like most OnePlus phones, the 16 is positioned around performance, with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chipset, and up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM. This is backed by a massive 9,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, one of the largest ever seen on an Android flagship. 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging round out the power setup.
On the display front, the phone upgrades to a 185Hz OLED panel for the first time. This will not only be used for 185fps gaming in compatible titles, but will also be able to run at up to 165Hz throughout the system’s UI – a first for high refresh rate panels like this.
Even the cameras, which are generally not OnePlus’ strong suit, have received a significant upgrade. The main camera has a higher resolution (200 megapixels), a larger sensor (1/1.4-inch type), and a faster aperture (f/1.4) than that of the OnePlus 15. This should help, given that we found the phone’s camera to exhibit frustrating “low-light imitations.” 50-megapixel ultra-wide and telephoto cameras round out the rear trio, and the latter also gets a big bump with a 1/1.95-inch sensor.
There’s also a touch of design, with the phone’s silver finish including LED lighting that features a large “16” and what the company claims is a set of galactic coordinates. Although the shapes of the lights are fixed, they would flash at different rates to notify you of calls, messages, battery level, etc.
The OnePlus 16 is available in China starting at ¥5,699 (around $850). With OnePlus no longer present in either the US or Europe, there is no hope of the 16 launching in either market.
Gn tech
