The iQOO 16 has officially launched in China and is gunning for the Android flagships. It launches as one of the first devices equipped with Qualcomm’s 2nm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chipset. Combined with an in-house Q4 gaming chip and a massive 8,400mAh battery, it makes a strong case for being the device to beat this year.
iQOO 16 Specifications and Features
Powering the the processing is Qualcomm’s 2nm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processor, paired with iQOO’s custom Q4 gaming chip and its Monster Super Core Engine that is a significant jump from just a year ago. Memory and storage performance are backed by LPDDR5X Ultra Pro RAM (10,667 Mbps) and UFS 4.1 storage and should keep things snappy.
According to iQOO, the setup achieves a score exceeding 5.57 million on AnTuTu. Thermal management is handled by an 8,500 mm sq vapour chamber alongside a three-layer graphite sheet.
The dedicated Q4 chipset focuses heavily on mobile gaming performance, supporting full-scene ray tracing across 10 popular titles and enabling 2K super-resolution with 165 FPS super-frame concurrency. The brand claims over 100 games support for 165 FPS gaming. Additional gaming-centric additions include an 8K gaming camera and a streaming assistant capable of outputting 165 FPS live streams. For inputs, the proprietary Q-flex control technology introduces a 5,000 Hz instantaneous touch sampling rate and a 500 Hz gyroscope, which iQOO states reduces gyroscope errors by 83.3%.
Visuals are displayed on a 6.85-inch flat Samsung M16 2K LTPO OLED panel running at up to 165 Hz. The screen reaches a local peak brightness of 10,000 nits, a global peak brightness of 2,800 nits, and up to 1,100 nits in manual mode. It also includes an anti-reflective film and 3,300 Hz PWM dimming to go easy on your eyes.
The back of the device houses a triple 50 MP camera array:
- Main Camera: 50 MP 1/1.3-inch OV50Q sensor with Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS).
- Ultra-wide Camera: 50 MP sensor.
- Telephoto Camera: 50 MP IMX882 periscope lens offering 3x optical zoom and up to 100x digital zoom.
Front-facing photography is handled by a 32 MP camera. On the software side for imaging, the camera suite offers 4K Live Photo support, a Colour Palette tool, vintage film styles, Humanistic Mode 3.0, and a redesigned portrait beauty engine.
Operating on Android 17, the phone runs OriginOS 7 out of the box. Key software additions include AI tools driven by the Xiao V assistant and the “Atomic Workbench” multitasking system. The brand claims the system will maintain smooth performance for up to six years, while my past experience with the OS has been good, it was a bit rough around the edges, hope they have worked on those.
iQOO 16 Pricing and Availability
In China, the iQOO 16 starts at 5,999 Chinese yuan (approximately ₹86,000) for the base 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage configuration. The top-tier 16 GB RAM and 1 TB storage model is priced at 8,499 Chinese yuan (approximately ₹1,21,500). Two intermediate models are also available: a 12 GB + 512 GB option and a 16 GB + 512 GB variant.
The handset comes in three colour options:
- Chasing Light: Off-white finish featuring subtle light patterns across the back.
- Legend: White finish.
- Track: Black finish.
The flagship is available for purchase in China via the official iQOO online store. Official details regarding a broader international or India release have not been confirmed. While some leaks suggest the model may not launch in India, official confirmation has yet to be announced.
