OnePlus 16 Tipped to Feature Upgraded Periscope Telephoto Camera With Samsung Sensor

OnePlus 16 leaks and rumours have been making headlines for months now. However, its anticipated launch in China is still months away. The rumoured handset, which is expected to succeed last year’s OnePlus 15 and the company’s current flagship phone, was recently tipped to boast significantly thinner bezels than its predecessor. Now, a tipster claims that the smartphone will also feature an upgraded periscope camera with a 200-megapixel Samsung sensor, which was reportedly earlier found on an unspecified Realme handset. Last year’s OnePlus 15 is equipped with a 50-megapixel telephoto camera on the back, featuring a Samsung JN5 sensor.

OnePlus 16 Specifications, Features (Expected)

In a post on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform, tipster Smart Pikachu (translated from Chinese) has claimed that the rumoured OnePlus 16 will be equipped with a 200-megapixel camera on the back, featuring the same sensor which has previously been found on a Realme smartphone.

While the tipster did not reveal further details, Gizmochina reports that the handset will boast a 200-megapixel Samsung HP5 periscope sensor, which the Realme 16 Pro series and the Realme GT 8 Pro also feature.

This is in line with a recent report that highlighted that the OnePlus 16 will be launched later this year, featuring a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto camera on the back, along with a 50-megapixel main camera and a 2-megapixel multispectral sensor to enhance colour accuracy and image quality.

If this is true, then the handset would offer a significant upgrade over the OnePlus 15’s 50-megapixel (f/2.8) Samsung JN5 telephoto camera, offering 3.5x optical zoom, 7x optical quality zoom, an 80mm focal length, a 30-degree field of view, and autofocus.

The OnePlus 16 is also expected to boast less than 1mm-thick bezels on the front, which would be a significant improvement over the OnePlus 15’s 1.15mm-thick bezels. However, contrary to previous claims, it will reportedly not be equipped with a built-in active cooling fan for thermal management. Additionally, the smartphone is said to also skip capacitive shoulder triggers for gaming.

Reports also suggest that the OnePlus 16 will be powered by Qualcomm’s unreleased Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chipset, paired with a 9,000mAh battery. However, the tech firm has yet to confirm these details.