Today in “things that aren’t big Apple announcements,” we’ve got a smartphone release that’s both intriguing and infuriating. As legions of U.S. phone reporters descend on Cupertino to swim in infinity pools of spatial audio and unified memory while Siri sings a context-integrated lullaby (at least, that’s what I assume happens at these big Apple events—I’ve never been to one), OnePlus has dropped a real doozy of a flagship phone on the other side of the world. Oh, and it won’t be sold in Europe or the United States.
At least, not officially. OnePlus called it quits on those two markets this summer in a fairly decisive and permanent-sounding fashion, so you’re unlikely to get your hands on this unless you’re willing to dig through some third-party listings and import the Chinese model, potentially forgoing things like warranty coverage, carrier compatibility, and local apps. The OnePlus 16 has one of the fanciest spec sheets in the world right now, and it’s clearly a feat of engineering, but it’s also a glimpse of the sorts of technological advances that we’re missing out on across this side of the planet—and may continue to miss out on now that one of China’s largest smartphone manufacturers has departed our shores.
The most bonkers thing on OnePlus’s bonkers-down-the-line spec sheet is its battery: it’s one of the largest currently in a mainstream flagship, weighing in at 9,000mAh. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra sports 5,000mAh, for comparison, and Gizmodo basically couldn’t drain that thing . 1 hours of “a popular MOBA game” at 120 fps and maximum graphics.
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