Today, the OnePlus 16 launched in China, the company’s first flagship phone since leaving both the US and European markets this summer. As luck would have it, it also looks like 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 1 TB of storage and 16GB of RAM. That’s backed up by a whopping 9,000mAh silicon-carbon battery, one of the biggest in any Android flagship to date. 100W wireless and 50W wireless charging station complete the power setup.
On the display front, the phone jumps to a 185Hz OLED panel for the first time. That’s not only used for 185fps gaming in compatible titles, but can also run at up to 165Hz throughout the system UI – a first for high refresh rate panels like this.
Even the cameras, not usually OnePlus’ strong suit, have had a meaningful upgrade. The main camera has a higher resolution (200 megapixels), larger sensor (1/1.4-inch type), and faster aperture (f/1.4) than the OnePlus 15’s. That should help, as we found the phone’s camera had frustrating “low-light artifacts.” 50-megapixel ultrawide and telephoto cameras round out the rear trio, and the latter also enjoys a big bump to a 1/1.95-inch sensor.
There is also a design flourish, with the phone’s silver finish including LED lighting that has a large “16” and what the company claims is a set of galactic coordinates. While the shapes of the lights are fixed, they are reported with different rhythms to inform you about calls, messages, battery level and more.
The OnePlus 16 is available in China starting at ¥5,699 (about $850). With OnePlus no longer in the US or Europe, there is no hope of a launch for the 16 in either market.