iQOO 16 to be among the first Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6-powered phones in India
A day after teasing it, iQOO has confirmed the India launch of its next-generation flagship, the iQOO 16. The announcement was made at the Snapdragon event at the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026, where the company’s CEO, Nipun Marya, also showcased the phone. The device appears identical to its Chinese counterpart, which launched last year. While the exact India launch date has not been revealed yet, the iQOO 16 will be among the first smartphones in India powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 SoC.
The iQOO 16 will compete against the Motorola Signature 27 and Xiaomi 18 Pro, both of which have also been confirmed for launch in India. The iQOO flagship is expected to stand out for its performance, backed by a 2K 165Hz AMOLED display, a massive 8,400mAh battery, a triple rear camera setup featuring 50MP sensors, and more. For techies, this could be a compelling option, worth keeping an eye on.
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iQOO 16 specifications
The iQOO 16 has debuted in China with a bit more personality in design than its predecessor, the iQOO 15. The handset features a squircle camera module, with individual sensor rings. The phone comes in three colour options: Chasing Lights, Legend, and Racing Track. The Chasing Lights, which has been teased by the iQOO CEO in India, produces a three-dimensional light effect that shifts and flows between red holographic patterns and blue light as the device moves.
As for the hardware, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 SoC will be the iQOO 16’s biggest highlight. Qualcomm’s latest flagship chipset has scored over 5.5 lakh on AnTuTu, a significant improvement over last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The chipset will be paired with LPDDR5X Ultra RAM, UFS 4.1 storage, and a Q4 gaming chip, which should further enhance overall performance, particularly when gaming or handling demanding workloads.
Speaking of gaming, the iQOO 16 features a 6.85-inch Samsung M16 AMOLED display with a 2K resolution and 165Hz refresh rate for sharper visuals and smoother graphics and animations compared to its predecessor, the iQOO 15. The battery capacity has also increased from 7,000mAh in last year’s model to 8,400mAh, while charging speeds remain unchanged at 100W wired and 40W wireless.
In optics, the iQOO 16 features a 50MP primary camera, a 50MP ultra-wide lens, and a 50MP periscope telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, which is largely unchanged from its predecessor. On the software front, the smartphone boots OriginOS 7 layered atop Android 17 out of the box.
While all that is impressive, it will be interesting to see the iQOO 16 price in India. With rising component costs, the handset is unlikely to be priced as competitively as the iQOO 15, which is currently selling in the country starting at Rs 85,999. In China, the iQOO 16 is selling at ~Rs 85,000 for the base variant.
