vivo’s gaming-focused sub-brand iQOO has officially launched the iQOO 16 in China, introducing a performance flagship packed with hardware typically associated with higher-end models.
Interestingly, iQOO is skipping Pro and Ultra variants this time, with the standard iQOO 16 serving as the main flagship model.
The phone features a redesigned camera module and comes in three colours: Chasing Light, Legend and Race Track. The Chasing Light variant uses a laser holographic process that creates shifting red and blue light effects as the viewing angle changes.
Under the hood, the iQOO 16 is among the first smartphones to use Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 flagship chipset, paired with iQOO’s in-house Q4 gaming chip and Monster Supercore Engine.
It can be configured with up to LPDDR5X Ultra Pro memory running at 10,667Mbps and UFS 4.1 storage, with iQOO claiming an AnTuTu lab score of 5.57 million points.
The display is arguably one of the phone’s biggest highlights. iQOO 16 debuts a 2K 165Hz Samsung OLED display, using Samsung’s latest M16 luminescent material and 2K LEAD 2.0 technology.
The panel supports 1,100 nits manual peak brightness, 2,800 nits global peak brightness and up to 10,000 nits local peak brightness, while each individual display is also colour-calibrated for improved consistency.
For gaming, the phone supports 2K + 165FPS super-resolution and frame generation simultaneously, alongside technology that enables ray tracing, super resolution and frame generation at the same time. iQOO says more than 50 popular games support 165FPS modes.
The company is also introducing its new Q-flex control technology, which optimises the entire input chain from touch response and gyroscope tracking to display calibration.
The new touch chip supports up to 5,000Hz instantaneous touch sampling and 500Hz multi-finger touch sampling, while the upgraded gyroscope offers a 500Hz sampling rate. iQOO also uses a high-precision gyroscope calibration system to individually calibrate each device, with the company claiming an 83.3% reduction in calibration error.
On the camera front, the iQOO 16 gets a triple-camera setup consisting of a 50MP 1/1.3-inch main camera, 50MP ultrawide camera and 50MP IMX882 3x periscope telephoto camera. The main camera reportedly captures 79% more light than the one on the iQOO 15, while also benefiting from vivo’s NICE 3.0 optical reconstruction engine and proprietary imaging algorithms.
Powering the phone is a massive 8,400mAh battery, with support for 100W wired charging and 40W wireless charging. Other hardware includes IP68/IP69 dust and water resistance, a 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and USB 3.2.
The iQOO 16 ships with OriginOS 7 based on Android 17, bringing features such as the Atomic Workbench, AI pet themes and “Little V” dynamic widgets.
In China, the iQOO 16 is available in four configurations:
- 12GB + 256GB — ¥5,999 (about RM3,655)
- 12GB + 512GB — ¥6,799 (about RM4,141)
- 16GB + 512GB — ¥7,499 (about RM4,568)
- 16GB + 1TB — ¥8,499 (about RM5,177)
The iQOO 16 is now available in China, while there is currently no official word on its Malaysian launch.
