While OnePlus may have exited the US and Europe, the brand is still alive in its home market and is already working on its next flagship smartphone. A fresh leak from Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station has now revealed more details about the OnePlus 16, including its design and a revised launch timeline.
The tipster previously claimed that the phone would arrive in September 2026, but the latest information points to an October launch in China (via Gizmochina). The global picture is far less clear, and there is now even some doubt over whether the OnePlus 16 will make it to India, which remains the company’s biggest market.
What could change with the OnePlus 16?
The OnePlus 16 will apparently retain the overall design language of the OnePlus 15, though the rear camera housing could shrink into a small square module. Up front, the phone is expected to feature a flat 6.78-inch display surrounded by narrow and uniform bezels.
Earlier leaks suggested that the screen could reach 185Hz, while OnePlus was also reportedly testing support for up to 240Hz. Either figure would be considerably faster than the 165Hz display on the OnePlus 15.
The rest of the hardware sounds just as excessive. The phone could use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro, which is expected to be built on a 2nm process. A battery capacity close to 9,000mAh has also been mentioned more than once. The rear camera setup may include a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultrawide, and a 50MP periscope telephoto with 3.5x optical zoom.
Will the OnePlus 16 launch outside China?
OnePlus has already confirmed that it will no longer launch new products in North America and Europe. Patent disputes, rising marketing costs, and intense competition from Samsung and Google reportedly played a role in the company’s withdrawal from those markets.
Existing owners will continue receiving software updates and warranty support. OnePlus has also announced that eligible smartphones will eventually get the option to move from OxygenOS to Oppo’s ColorOS through future updates.
India operations are continuing for now, but a recent leak suggests the OnePlus 16 could skip the country. Keep in mind that none of this is official yet, so the revised launch timing and availability details should still be treated with the usual grain of salt.
