OnePlus has officially launched the OnePlus 16 in China, and the headline number is the battery. At 9,000 mAh, it is a huge jump from the 7,300 mAh cell in last year's OnePlus 15, and it comes without the phone getting noticeably thicker. Charging stays quick too, with 100 W wired and 50 W wireless support confirmed at launch.
The rest of the spec sheet is just as aggressive. OnePlus is using Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, built on a 2 nm process, paired with LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.1 storage across four configurations that top out at 16 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage.
Display and cameras
The screen is a flat 6.78 inch OLED panel at 1.5K resolution, with a refresh rate that climbs to 185 Hz in supported games while everyday use settles at a smoother, more battery friendly 165 Hz. On the back, OnePlus has moved to a 200 MP main sensor using a large 1 over 1.4 inch type chip, joined by a 50 MP ultrawide and a 50 MP telephoto offering 3x optical zoom. That is a meaningful jump from the triple 50 MP setup on the OnePlus 15.
Software wise, the OnePlus 16 ships on ColorOS 17, OnePlus's China specific software build, running on top of Android 17.
Pricing and where you can actually buy one
In China, the OnePlus 16 starts at roughly 5,999 yuan for the base 12 GB and 256 GB model, rising to around 8,499 yuan for the maxed out 16 GB and 1 TB version. That starting price is a sharp increase over the OnePlus 15's 3,999 yuan launch price last year, so OnePlus is clearly positioning this generation as a step up rather than a like for like refresh.
The catch for anyone outside China is that OnePlus has not announced any plans to bring the OnePlus 16 to global markets, including the US, Europe or India. Historically OnePlus has often skipped a global release for its numbered China exclusive phones in favor of launching a separate international variant later, sometimes under a different name, so it is worth watching OnePlus's global channels over the coming months rather than expecting this exact phone to show up outside China.
