iQOO’s upcoming flagship smartphone has surfaced in a new leak that points to several hardware upgrades over its predecessor. The rumoured iQOO 16 is said to be in testing with a large battery, a next-generation Qualcomm chipset, and an upgraded display. The latest information suggests that the company may continue to focus on performance and gaming-oriented features for the handset. Previous reports have also indicated camera enhancements and a possible global rollout. iQOO has not officially announced the smartphone or revealed any launch plans.
iQOO 16 Leak Suggests Major Battery Upgrade Over Predecessor
According to a Weibo post by tipster Digital Chat Station (translated from Chinese), the upcoming iQOO 16 could pack a battery with a capacity of around 8,500mAh. The tipster claimed that an early engineering sample of the handset is being tested with Qualcomm’s next-generation SM8975 processor, which is widely expected to debut as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro chipset.
The leak further suggests that the iQOO 16 may feature a flat display with a 2K resolution. The panel is said to use a new custom substrate and support an ultra-high refresh rate. The tipster also indicated that the prototype lacks a built-in cooling fan, despite its large battery and flagship-grade hardware.
Previous reports indicate that the iQOO 16 could rely on a redesigned thermal management system to handle heat generated during demanding workloads. The handset is also tipped to feature an in-house performance chip aimed at improving gaming and sustained processing performance.
The iQOO 16 smartphone may arrive with a periscope telephoto camera, according to earlier reports. The handset has reportedly been spotted on the IMEI database with the model number I2601. The listing suggests the handset could launch in India and other global markets. The report adds that testing is underway and that the phone may arrive in India soon after its debut in China.
The Indian variant of the iQOO 15 features a 6.85-inch 2K LTPO AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate and up to 6,000 nits peak brightness. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and an 8K VC cooling system. The phone offers a 50-megapixel triple rear camera setup, including a periscope telephoto lens, and packs a 7,000mAh battery with 100W wired and 40W wireless charging support.
