After dumping us in the States and much of the world faster than a New York minute, OnePlus has unveiled its latest OnePlus 16 flagship in China. Sadly, its cutting-edge internals, gargantuan battery, and heavily upgraded cameras will never be savored on our shores, so all we can do is pine and whine.

System-wide 165 Hz refresh rate, with 185 Hz is available while gaming - Image: OnePlus

One of the first things that jumps out at us with the OnePlus 16 is its mammoth 9,000 mAh battery, which delivers a roughly 23% jump over the 15 without dramatically increasing the phone's overall footprint or weight (although it looks to be a tad thicker). Charging remains fast, supporting 100W wired and 50W wireless to top up the massive cell in short order (along with 27W reverse wired and 5W reverse wireless charging).

Under the bonnet, the phone is among the first to feature Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processor, paired with up to 16GB of DDR5X Ultra RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.1 storage, non-expandable. On the front, a 6.78-inch LTPO AMOLED display pushes 185Hz refresh rate in game mode alongside system-wide 165Hz.

The OnePlus 15's imaging was a step back from the 13. Can the new one make up for it? - Image: OnePlus

Photographers might also be in for a boost as the OnePlus 16 trades in last generation's 50MP primary sensor for a 200MP unit featuring a large 1/1.4 sensor and f/1.6 lens, although we're wondering what the tuning will be like ever since OnePlus dropped its Hasselblad partnership since the OP 13. There's also a faster 50MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom plus larger 1/1.95 sensor, alongside a 50MP ultrawide camera. 

As we reported previously, the phone comes in Tomorrow's Starlight, Martian Masterpiece, and Dark Forest colorways, whereby the Starlight version features rear-casing LEDs that provide notification alerts for incoming calls and messages.

Starting at 5,699 yuan (approximately $850) for the base 12GB RAM/256GB ROM configuration, the OnePlus 16 launches at a higher price in China than previous generations. Yet, given its impressive hardware, it still remains competitively priced against rivals. But of course, the real tragedy of the OnePlus 16 is not its price or its performance, but its reach. For fans of brand across the globe, OnePlus has delivered one of its finest smartphones in years, only to leave international buyers watching from the sidelines.