OnePlus 16 leak reveals next-gen Snapdragon flagship chipset and camera upgrade

OnePlus is set to launch the OnePlus 15T later this month in China. It will be a compact smartphone with a 6.3-inch display. Meanwhile, the company is expected to launch its next-generation flagship, the OnePlus 16, in Q4 2026.

OnePlus flagship phones have traditionally used flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. For example, the OnePlus 15 (curr. $899 on Amazon) was among the first smartphones to feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. However, this year Qualcomm is rumored to release two versions of its flagship chipset: a standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and a more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro.

Prominent tipster Digital Chat Station has now revealed that the OnePlus 16 will feature a chipset with the codename SM8975, reportedly belonging to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro. It is expected to be a 2nm-based chipset that may achieve a 5GHz clock speed. Notably, it is rumored to support LPDDR6 RAM, compared to LPDDR5X RAM on the 8 Elite Gen 5.

The OnePlus 16 is also expected to receive upgrades in the camera department. The tipster suggests it could use a 200MP periscope telephoto camera. Earlier leaks revealed it could use a 200MP 1/1.56-inch sensor, compared to the smaller 50MP 1/2.76-inch sensor on its predecessor. Some other rumored specifications of the OnePlus 16 include a large 9,000mAh battery and a display exceeding 200Hz refresh rate.