iQOO 16 official: price, specs and release date

📌 Update of 5 October 2026: The iQOO 16 has been spotted on Geekbench in a global version equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, confirming its cutting-edge performance. Following certification from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), these clues reinforce the prospect of an upcoming release outside China.

📌 Updated 29 September 2026 — The iQOO 16 is official, and on sale in China since its launch. It starts at 5,999 yuan (around €780) for 12 GB + 256 GB. It is one of the first phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, backed by the in-house Q4 chip. It brings together the first 2K 165 Hz display, co-developed with Samsung, an 8,400 mAh battery with 100 W wired and 40 W wireless charging, three 50 MP cameras including a Sony 3x periscope, and dual IP68 and IP69 certification.

The gaming brand of the Vivo group is renewing its flagship. The iQOO 16 is all the more complete because iQOO decided to drop the Ultra model altogether: everything the brand can do ends up in this single phone, unveiled on 29 September in China alongside the iQOO Pad Ultra.

Design: three colourways and a holographic back

On the back, the three lenses sit in a square island with rounded corners in the top-left corner. iQOO designed it like a porthole: under clear glass, a mechanical structure links the three lenses in a triangle, with “100X” engraved at the top of the island. The gently curved frame meets the screen and back without a sharp edge, and the large rounded corners sit comfortably in the palm, which matters when holding the phone sideways during a game.

Three colourways are available, and they do not all weigh the same:

• Chasing Light: the holographic back, made with laser imaging, where red and blue reflections cross depending on the viewing angle. 8.55 mm and 229.8 g.
• Legend: a plain white. 8.40 mm and 227.9 g.
• Racing Track: a near-black navy, the thinnest and lightest. 8.30 mm and 222.5 g.

The phone measures 163.75 × 76.90 mm. A protective case comes in the box, along with the charger, and a screen protector is fitted at the factory.

Display: the first 2K 165 Hz panel, co-developed with Samsung

The display is the headline feature. The 6.85-inch flat AMOLED panel runs at 3,168 × 1,440 pixels and up to 165 Hz: iQOO calls it the world’s first 2K 165 Hz display, co-developed with Samsung Display. It is the first on Android to use Samsung’s M16 emissive material, paired with 2K LEAD 2.0 technology, which removes the usual polarising filter to let more light through. The claimed result: 31% lower power consumption than a 1.5K display, and a material that lasts a third longer.

• Brightness: 2,800 nits full screen and 10,000 nits local peak, with a factory-fitted anti-reflective film.
• Colour: up to 1.24 times the P3 colour space in vivid mode, and every panel is individually calibrated at the factory.
• Eye comfort: DC dimming at all brightness levels, PWM up to 3,300 Hz, non-polarised light and in-game glare protection, with two TÜV Rheinland certifications.
• Touch: up to 5,000 Hz instant and 500 Hz multi-finger sampling, and a gyroscope calibrated one by one at the factory.

The 165 Hz mode covers more than 100 everyday apps and more than 50 natively supported games.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and the in-house Q4 chip

The iQOO 16 is among the first phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, the most powerful version of Qualcomm’s new 2 nm chip. The official spec sheet details its layout: two cores at 5.01 GHz, three at 4.03 GHz and three at 3.74 GHz. According to Qualcomm, the CPU is 37% more efficient than the previous generation. The iQOO 16 scored 5,574,521 points on AnTuTu in its 16 GB + 1 TB version.

Memory is LPDDR5X Ultra at 9,600 Mbps, and LPDDR5X Ultra Pro at 10,667 Mbps on the 1 TB version, with UFS 4.1 storage. Alongside the processor, the in-house Q4 chip handles in-game visuals:

• Ray tracing across all scenes, with virtual point light sources and HDR: lighting is no longer painted into the textures in advance, it is calculated and casts real shadows.
• Super resolution and frame interpolation: six popular games run at both 2K and 165 frames per second, and around a hundred games benefit from interpolation to 165 frames per second.
• 8K screenshots and highlight recording, designed for players who stream their games.

To keep up the pace, iQOO has greatly enlarged the cooling: a single-layer 8,500 mm² vapour chamber, a 1,190 mm² thermal gel, 41% larger than on the iQOO 15, and three layers of graphite covering 29,453 mm².

Cameras: three 50 MP sensors and a Sony 3x periscope

• 50 MP main camera: a large 1/1.3-inch sensor at f/1.68, stabilised to CIPA 5.5. It captures 79% more light than the previous generation’s.
• 50 MP Sony periscope telephoto: 1/1.95-inch sensor at f/2.65, 3x optical zoom, 6x lossless and up to 100x digital, stabilised to CIPA 5.0.
• 50 MP ultra-wide: 1/2.75-inch sensor at f/2.05, with autofocus.
• 32 MP front camera at f/2.2, recording in 4K.

iQOO brings over the processing from Vivo’s camera flagships: the NICE 3.0 optical reconstruction engine, the Magic 3.0 rendering engine on the telephoto, in-house HDR and the brand’s colour styles. The phone records up to 8K, offers 4K slow motion and 4K motion photos.

8,400 mAh battery, 100 W wired and 40 W wireless charging

The 8,400 mAh battery (8,170 mAh rated) is a single cell. Its fifth-generation silicon anode reaches 908 Wh/L, which is why it fits in a body 8.30 to 8.55 mm thick. iQOO claims up to 8.6 hours of gaming at 165 frames per second.

• 100 W wired, with the charger included in the box;
• 40 W wireless;
• reverse charging by cable, and an optional bypass mode that powers the board directly while gaming to limit heat.

Hardware: IP68 and IP69, ultrasonic fingerprint, dual speakers

• IP68 and IP69: immersion at 1.5 m for 30 minutes, and high-pressure hot water jets.
• 3D ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor, with a 44% larger sensing area, reliable with wet or greasy fingers.
• Audio and haptics: two symmetrical speakers with a rear chamber 17% larger, and a dual-axis vibration motor.
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, NFC and an infrared blaster.
• Software: OriginOS 7, based on Android 17, with the multitasking workspace that opens up to five apps at once.

Official iQOO 16 spec sheet

iQOO 16 price and availability

The iQOO 16 has been on sale in China since its launch on 29 September. Euro conversions are indicative, at the current exchange rate and excluding import taxes:

• 12 GB + 256 GB: 5,999 yuan (around €780)
• 12 GB + 512 GB: 6,799 yuan (around €885)
• 16 GB + 512 GB: 7,499 yuan (around €975)
• 16 GB + 1 TB: 8,499 yuan (around €1,105)

iQOO has not yet announced an international release for the iQOO 16. The brand did so for the iQOO 15 Ultra, and the iQOO Neo 12 completes the range one step below.

Towards a global launch: Geekbench and EEC certification

While its direct rival OnePlus may skip an international release for the OnePlus 16, the iQOO 16 appears to be preparing for its arrival beyond Chinese borders. Uncertainties surrounding global launches remain very real, however, particularly due to the rising cost of RAM, which threatens to drive up the price of high-end smartphones. Even so, several concrete clues point to the brand’s international ambitions.

The iQOO 16 has indeed secured certification from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), an administrative step that often precedes an international launch. In its wake, what appears to be the global variant of the device emerged on the Geekbench 7 benchmarking platform. The device recorded a single-core score of 2,944 points and a multi-core score of 10,029 points.

This listing confirms the presence of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processor (model number SM8975), backed by an Adreno 850 GPU and 12 GB of RAM running Android 17. Its octa-core CPU configuration faithfully mirrors that of the Chinese model: two cores clocked at 5.01 GHz, three at 4.03 GHz and three at 3.74 GHz. According to leaker Abhishek Yadav, the tested firmware bears the “EX” designation, an identifier traditionally reserved for versions destined for global markets. Although iQOO has not yet made an international unveiling date official, these signs offer hope of an upcoming launch outside China.

iQOO 16 vs iQOO 15: what changes

• Display: 2K at 165 Hz vs 144 Hz, 2,800 nits full screen vs 2,600, and the M16 material instead of M14.
• Chip: Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 on 2 nm, backed by the Q4 chip.
• Battery: 8,400 mAh and 100 W charging.
• Cameras: a larger 1/1.3-inch main sensor and a Sony 3x periscope.
• Cooling: an 8,500 mm² vapour chamber and a 41% larger thermal gel.

In summary

The iQOO 16 delivers: the first 2K 165 Hz display, Qualcomm’s fastest chip backed by the Q4, 8,400 mAh and IP69, from 5,999 yuan. For a phone designed first and foremost for gaming, it sacrifices neither battery life nor cameras.

While we wait for a possible global version, browse our Vivo smartphones in stock, along with our Vivo cases and fast chargers.