The iQOO 16 may launch in India within the coming weeks, but the phone’s potential price could make it a difficult upgrade to justify. A tipster on X claims the device has begun testing in India after its recent debut in China, where it starts at CNY 5,999.

That Chinese price converts to roughly INR 86,000, but the reported Indian price could be closer to INR 100,000. Such pricing would place the iQOO 16 well above its predecessor, which started at INR 72,999 in India about a year ago.

iQOO 16 India launch and expected price

The India launch has not been formally confirmed in the information available, so the timing and final price remain uncertain. However, the reported testing activity suggests that iQOO is evaluating the phone for the Indian market.

The possible INR 100,000 price would also make the iQOO 16 more expensive than the Chinese starting price after conversion. Indian pricing can differ because of taxes, distribution costs and configuration differences, but the gap would still represent a substantial increase over the previous generation.

For now, the pricing claim comes from tipster Yogesh Brar, who posted about the phone’s reported testing on X. Buyers should therefore treat the figure as an estimate rather than confirmed launch information.

iQOO 16 specifications

The phone is positioned as a high-end model with a large 6.85-inch Samsung-made M16 AMOLED display. It has a 1440 × 3168 resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate and a claimed peak brightness of 10,000 nits.

Processing comes from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chipset. The Chinese model is offered with 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of storage. iQOO’s final Indian configurations could differ, although no such changes have been specified.

Cameras and battery

The rear camera system includes a 50MP primary camera with optical image stabilisation, a 50MP periscope telephoto camera with optical stabilisation and 3x optical zoom, plus a 50MP ultrawide camera with autofocus. A 32MP camera handles selfies.

The iQOO 16 also has an 8,400mAh battery, which is larger than what many flagship phones offer. It supports 100W wired charging and 40W wireless charging. The phone runs Android 17 with iQOO’s OriginOS 7 software.

These specifications could help justify a premium price, particularly for buyers prioritising battery capacity, gaming performance and a high-refresh-rate display. Still, a starting price near INR 100,000 would put the iQOO 16 in a far more competitive segment than the previous model, making the official India announcement and configuration details especially important.