Back in July we reported on the exit of OnePlus from US and Europe markets, but the brand wasn't being discontinued from all regions. It’s still alive and kicking in its Chinese homeland, where it has just announced its next flagship handset: the OnePlus 16. Ordinarily a China-only phone release wouldn't be of much interest to us, but annoyingly for western OnePlus fans, the OnePlus 16 looks like one heck of an upgrade from the previous OnePlus 15.
Arguably the most impressive statistic is the gargantuan 9,000mAh battery; a significant boost over the 7,300mAh unit in the OnePlus 15. Combined with the new, more efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a genuine two-day battery life looks easily possible. The battery supports rapid 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging, yet all this doesn't come at the expense of device portability: the OnePlus 16 is only marginally thicker and heavier than its predecessor. The new Snapdragon SoC should also supply plenty of processing punch, as it's the same chip we've seen in flagship phones like the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max, Honor Magic 9 Pro Max, and it looks set to feature in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra. In the OnePlus 16 it can be teamed with a choice of 12GB or 16GB of RAM.
The OnePlus 16 doesn't disappoint in the camera department, either. Where the OnePlus 15 'made do' with a trio of 50MP modules, the '16 gets a new primary camera with a 200MP, 1/1.4" sensor fronted by a 23mm, f/1.6 lens. The ultrawide and 3x telephoto cameras still use 50MP sensors, as does the selfie camera. You should have a great view of proceedings, too, thanks to the new 6.78-inch AMOLED display. This runs at 1272 x 2772 resolution, is capable of up to 1000 nits peak brightness, and it supports refresh rates as high as 185Hz - great news for gamers.
As you might imagine, given the escalating price of flash memory during 2026, the OnePlus 16's upgrades don't come cheap. Where the OnePlus 15 launched at start price of RMB 3,999 last year, the OnePlus 16 costs a whopping RMB 5,999 for the entry-level 12/256GB variant. That converts to nearly $900 US, and you'd need to part with the equivalent of around $1,270 to get your hands on a 16GB/1TB OnePlus 16. However, these kind of price increases are an industry-wide issue, and certainly not confined to OnePlus.
For die-hard OnePlus fans in the west, importing a OnePlus 16 for China is likely to be a tempting prospect, but warranty and potential app compatibility issues mean this isn't really recommended for most. If you want to get as close to the OnePlus 16 experience from a handset you can buy in Europe, the closest option would be from OnePlus's parent company, Oppo. The new Oppo Find X10 Pro Max sports a similar screen to the OnePlus 16, and manages to outdo it in terms of camera hardware. You get the same 200MP main module, alongside a more advanced 200MP, 1/1.56" periscope telephoto camera. With OnePlus and Oppo sharing the same ColorOS operating system, a Find X10 Pro Max should also feel very similar to the OnePlus 16 in use.
