Xiaomi 16 Ultra: Three major camera upgrades detailed with circa 7,500 mAh battery also rumoured

Xiaomi is unlikely to replace the current Xiaomi 15 Ultra until early next year. If the company's previous release schedules are anything to go by, then the Xiaomi 16 Ultra will join a successor to last year's Xiaomi 15 (curr. $850 on Amazon) during MWC 2026 in Barcelona between March 2 and March 5, 2026. Nonetheless, insiders already claim to have received information about Xiaomi's next Ultra-branded flagship ahead of time.

For instance, Kartikey Singh reports that the Xiaomi 16 Ultra will 'usher in major camera changes', presumably compared to its predecessor. However, the leaker has not elaborated further. Instead, they state that these undescribed upgrades will be 'very shocking'.

Meanwhile, rumours on Weibo suggest that Xiaomi will adopt a new 1-inch main camera for the Xiaomi 16 Ultra. Allegedly joined by a new 200 MP and 1/1.28-inch periscope telephoto camera, the 1-inch type primary camera is said to output natively at 50 MP with excellent dynamic range. Meanwhile, Xiaomi is also expected to include an upgraded ultra-wide-angle camera, based on Sony's 50 MP and 1/2-inch LYT-600 sensor.

Moreover, the Xiaomi 16 Ultra is rumoured to adopt a 7,000-7,500 mAh battery with support for 100 W wired and 50 W wireless charging. Somewhat predictably, leakers anticipate Xiaomi turning to Qualcomm and the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for the Xiaomi 16 Ultra, which should also power the Xiaomi 16 and Xiaomi 16 Pro. Although images of the device's design have not surfaced yet, the device is said to feature even slimmer bezels than recent flagships, too.