iQOO Pad Ultra with a cooling fan and iQOO 16 go on sale!

iQOO 16 and iQOO Pad Ultra official: peak performance!

At first glance, it is clear that the new iQOO 16 smartphone and iQOO Pad Ultra tablet are powerhouse devices built for gamers. Let’s take a look at exactly what they offer and their price points.

iQOO 16 – Refreshed Style, Three Key Strengths

The new flagship smartphone from Vivo's gaming sub-brand hasn't undergone a fundamental overhaul, but it does bring several significant improvements. A must-have upgrade is Qualcomm's most powerful processor to date, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, though it is paired with the same LPDDR5X Ultra RAM and UFS 4.1 storage found in the iQOO 15. Rising memory costs mean that the newer LPDDR6 and UFS 5.0 standards will remain a rarity, even among top-tier smartphones... however, the device does feature the Android 17 operating system with the OriginOS 7 interface.

The battery capacity of the iQOO 16 has also seen an upgrade compared to the previous model; it now stands at 8,400 mAh, while charging capabilities remain unchanged at 100W wired and 40W wireless.

The Samsung-made M16 AMOLED display retains the 6.85-inch size and 1440 x 3168 resolution, but this time it offers a smoother 165Hz refresh rate and a peak spot brightness of 10,000 nits. While that impressive figure is more of a novelty than a practical benchmark, the global peak brightness of 2,800 nits is equally attractive.

Photography isn't the top priority for a gaming smartphone, so it comes as no surprise that—despite a redesigned camera island—the iQOO 16's camera setup is largely the same as the iQOO 15's. On the back, there are three 50MP cameras: a main 1/1.3-inch sensor with OIS (larger than last year's model), a wide-angle camera with a 1/2.75-inch sensor (identical to its predecessor), and a 1/1.95-inch periscope telephoto lens featuring OIS and 3x optical zoom. A 32MP front-facing camera handles selfies.

iQOO 16
photo: iQOO

iQOO Pad Ultra – powerful and cool

iQOO already has a number of tablets in its lineup, but this is the first to bear the "Ultra" moniker. What does that mean? For the iQOO Pad Ultra, the key feature is a cooling fan—similar to the one found in the iQOO 15 Ultra but larger (30 x 30 x 3.5 mm) to suit the tablet's form factor. The fan is supported by dual vapor chambers and a heat-dissipating copper block positioned over the processor. Powering the device is the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 processor, paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 1 TB of UFS 4.1 internal storage in the top-tier variant; additionally, a proprietary Q4 chip assists with gaming-related tasks such as frame interpolation and ray tracing.

Beyond the inclusion of a fan, the iQOO Pad Ultra also stands out from other iQOO tablets due to its size; it is a relatively compact device featuring an 8.8-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2304 x 1440 px and a smooth 165 Hz refresh rate, along with a touch sampling rate of 120 Hz that boosts to 500 Hz during gaming. It features a 9,020 mAh battery with 66W charging, runs on OriginOS 7 HD (based on Android 17), and is equipped with 13 MP front and rear cameras for photos and video calls.

iQOO Pad Ultra
photo: iQOO

Much like the iQOO 15, these new devices are expected to eventually reach global markets, though for now, they are available for purchase in China. The iQOO Pad Ultra tablet comes in Star Armor Silver (white) and End Shadow Black, while the iQOO 16 smartphone is available in Racing Track (navy blue), Legend (white), and a Racing Track variant featuring holographic shapes. Both devices are available in four RAM and internal storage configurations, at the following prices: