TL; DR
- OnePlus 16 looks very similar to the OnePlus 15, with a familiar rear camera design and flat frame.
- It is expected in Dark Forest, Mars Masterpiece and Tomorrow’s Starlight.
- The Starlight version gets a new rear lighting system that reacts to notifications, calls, music, charging and gaming.
- The phone is expected to launch in China soon. No India launch is expected at this stage.
OnePlus isn’t making a huge design change with the OnePlus 16. The official images show a phone that looks very close to the OnePlus 15, with the same overall shape, flat sides and a familiar camera module on the back.
There is one obvious attempt to make the new phone stand out, though. OnePlus is introducing a “Tomorrow’s Starlight” finish with lighting built into the rear panel. So while the phone itself looks familiar, the back can actually do something new.
The New Starlight Finish
The OnePlus 16 will come in Dark Forest, Mars Masterpiece and Tomorrow’s Starlight.
Starlight is easily the most unusual of the three. Its rear lighting can respond to things happening on the phone, including incoming calls, notifications, music playback, charging and gaming. Different situations can trigger different lighting effects.
It gives OnePlus another way to show what’s happening without turning the screen on. The idea is similar in spirit to Nothing’s Glyph interface, although OnePlus appears to be keeping the lighting much more integrated into the rear panel.
The other two finishes are more conventional. Dark Forest goes for the darker flagship look, while Mars Masterpiece adds a warmer, more colourful orange-ish option to the lineup.
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OnePlus 16 Expected Specifications
The phone is tipped to feature a 6.78-inch 1.5K BOE X4 LTPO OLED with 0.99mm bezels. The display could support up to 165Hz for normal use and 185Hz in supported games.
Inside, the OnePlus 16 is expected to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 with a 9,000 mAh battery, 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
The camera setup could include a 200MP 1/1.4-inch main camera with OIS, a 50MP ultrawide and a 50MP 3X periscope telephoto. A 50MP front camera is also expected. Other features include LUMO imaging, an upgraded cooling system, X-axis haptics, stereo speakers, an IR blaster and IP69 protection.
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The OnePlus 16 is expected to launch in China soon. There is currently no indication that OnePlus plans to bring it to India.
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