iQOO 16 Goes Official: 2nm Chip, 8,400mAh, From CNY 5,999
The iQOO 16 launched in China on September 29, 2026: an 8,400mAh battery, a 2nm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, a 165Hz display, from CNY 5,999. This piece lines up the official spec sheet, the four pricing tiers, and the pre-launch leaks. Three gaps are worth knowing up front. Leaks said 8,500mAh; the official figure is 8,400mAh. Wireless charging leaks contradicted each other, one claiming 50W and another claiming it had been dropped; the final spec is 40W. The tablet's starting price was predicted at CNY 4,500 and landed at CNY 5,999. The iQOO Pad Ultra, launched alongside, is the one that puts an active cooling fan inside the chassis.
Official specs: a 2nm chip and an 8,400mAh battery
Display and performance
The screen is a 6.85-inch Samsung-made M16 AMOLED panel with a 1440x3168 resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate. iQOO rates peak brightness at up to 10,000 nits in localized peaks, with 2,800 nits full-screen. The chipset is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, paired with LPDDR5X Ultra memory and UFS 4.1 storage, running Android 17 with OriginOS 7.
iQOO's earlier announcement also said the phone carries a new in-house gaming chip alongside a next-generation Monster engine, with an emphasis on ray tracing on mobile, and that the panel was developed jointly with Samsung Display.
Cameras and build
All three rear cameras are 50MP: a 1/1.3-inch main sensor with OIS, a 1/2.75-inch ultrawide with autofocus, and a 1/1.95-inch periscope telephoto with OIS offering 3x optical, 6x "lossless," and up to 100x digital zoom. The selfie camera is a fixed-focus 32MP unit.
iQOO separately claimed the main camera gathers 79 percent more light than the iQOO 15's, using vivo's in-house HDR engine and NICE 3.0 optical reconstruction, with CIPA 5.5-rated stabilization . The body carries IP68 and IP69 ratings and an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint reader, and measures 8.3mm to 8.55mm thick at 222.5g to 229.8g depending on colorway.
Four pricing tiers, from CNY 5,999
The official price list
12/256GB costs CNY 5,999, 12/512GB CNY 6,799, 16/512GB CNY 7,499, and 16GB/1TB CNY 8,499. Domestic channels list a subsidized starting price of CNY 5,499.
Where the pre-launch leaks went wrong
An August 18 leak sheet listed an 8,500mAh battery, 100W wired, and 50W wireless. The official sheet reads 8,400mAh, 100W wired, 40W wireless. A separate leak at the time concluded wireless charging would most likely be cut entirely. Two leak streams disagreed, and the shipping spec landed on 40W. The lesson is plain: leak specs are leads, and they need a source-grade label before they go into print.
The iQOO Pad Ultra is where the cooling answer sits
Specs and positioning
The Pad Ultra is the first tablet with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, an 8.8-inch 165Hz OLED panel, and a "one-handed esports" positioning. Its 12/256GB model is priced at CNY 5,999, with a domestic subsidized price from CNY 5,499 .
The line also diverges from iQOO's existing Pad family, which used 12-inch-plus LCD panels; this generation moves to a 2.8K OLED high-refresh panel .
What the active fan is rated at
Media relay of the official figures puts a 30x30x3.5mm active cooling fan inside the body, with a 1,661mm2 heat dissipation area, a maximum 1,450rpm, and up to 0.94CFM of airflow. The tablet is 5.74mm thick with a 9,000mAh battery. Active fans are rare in Android tablets, and the intent is obvious: flatten the frame-time dips during long sessions.
Three open questions behind the spec sheet
Cooling is the real bar
A 2nm chip plus an 8,400mAh battery reads well on paper, but games are decided by sustained output. The phone already starts at 222.5g, a bigger battery eats internal volume, and cooling hardware competes for the same space. No temperature or frame-rate curve for extended play was published at launch, so third-party testing is the only path to that answer. GameHub's games coverage will update these figures once independent measurements land.
"PC gaming, unlocked" is still marketing language
At a technical briefing, iQOO presented a "3+2 gaming technology blueprint" and said the iQOO 16 supports full-scene ray tracing with 2K at 165fps . How much mobile ray tracing actually changes a phone game, and what "unlocking PC gaming" means in practice, remain unspecified; no verifiable cross-platform scheme was published, so treating it as marketing language is the safer read for now.
Weight, and a global release
At 8.3mm to 8.55mm and 222.5g to 229.8g, one-handed use is a real compromise, and iQOO has not announced global availability.
FAQ
How much does the iQOO 16 cost
Four tiers: 12/256GB at CNY 5,999, 12/512GB at CNY 6,799, 16/512GB at CNY 7,499, and 16GB/1TB at CNY 8,499, with a domestic subsidized price from CNY 5,499.
Which chip does the iQOO 16 use
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, built on TSMC's 2nm process, paired with LPDDR5X Ultra memory and UFS 4.1 storage .
What are the battery and charging specs
An 8,400mAh battery with 100W wired and 40W wireless charging, and a body rated IP68 and IP69 for dust and water resistance .
One question for you
With a CNY 6,000 budget, would you take the 8,400mAh performance flagship or a lighter phone with a more balanced camera system? Drop your reasoning in the comments.