One in five would pay $1,000 for the OnePlus 16. Have we caved in?

OnePlus is the Chinese brand that has been enjoying a surprisingly high level of recognition in the West – both Europeans and Americans have heard about the company.

Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and the rest are also known perfectly well especially to tech-savvy users, as their flagships often come with jaw-dropping specs. Sure, the software side of things might not be to your liking if one's used only to One UI or iOS, but on the hardware side of things, these handsets shine bright.

OnePlus achieved this status with numerous flagship killers (which, as my colleagues here correctly point out, are often "killer flagships" on their own) like the OnePlus 12.

We've since moved to the stylish OnePlus 13 and the battery champion OnePlus 15 (there's no OnePlus 14, so if you see one for sale, call 911).

As night follows day, we're about to welcome the OnePlus 16. This won't happen today, tomorrow, or next month. The big unveiling could take place in the fall.

How much are you willing to spend on it?

The votes are in

Not so long ago, I dissected the results I got from a recent PhoneArena poll that asked you, "Which spec would you really like to see in the OnePlus 16?"

The 9,000 mAh battery was of utmost importance, but the "All I'm really interested in is the price" option got almost 22% of the votes and was the second most important thing.

That's why I then took things further and asked you, "What's the acceptable OnePlus 16 price?"

And this is what you've answered:

• $800. – 35.93%
• $900. – 25.5%
• $1,000. – 19.04%
• Whatever, it's an instant buy. – 9.11%
• Pre-order discounts are crucial. – 10.43%

I'm glad that roughly one in ten of our respondents is a millionaire who spends their days walking a cheetah on a leash in Monte Carlo and has a personal F1 driver.

But I can't say that I'm not surprised by the results.

Is $1,000 too much?

Almost 20% say that a thousand dollars is an acceptable price for the OnePlus 16. Until the phone materializes and proves that it comes with substantial upgrades on board, I'd say it's wiser to avoid boarding the hype train.

Credible or not, rumors are not to be fully trusted, especially this early in the year. Leaked specs can often change at the last minute.

What's more, a thousand bucks is a hefty price tag for a phone that's neither Samsung nor Apple. Not even Google. It's a matter of perception. It's not about you and me, though – avid PhoneArena readers are not afraid to spend four-figure sums on exotic brands.

But if somebody at OnePlus headquarters decides the $1,000 price tag really is acceptable for the OnePlus 16, you and I will have a much tougher time trying to convince those hardcore Apple, Samsung fans to join the OnePlus cult.

Make $800 happen again

Time for some good ol' pipe dreamin'. The last OnePlus flagship that started at $800 was the OnePlus 12. Both the OnePlus 13 and the OnePlus 15 arrived at $900, so the OnePlus 16 at $800 is out of the question.

But if "somehow, Palpatine returned", why wouldn't the company find a way to lower the price of the OnePlus 16?

Because every last thing is getting costlier, that's why: critical materials for the chip-making industry are facing severe shortages, gas is still used to move things around the world – your phone doesn't magically appear on your front porch just like that – and the more expensive the food and rent get, the less money we save.

Hence, the less likely we'll be to buy something this expensive.

Is $900 acceptable, then?

This is our best chance. The most important thing is for the OnePlus 16 to avoid getting downgraded in hardware terms.

The iPhone 18 could get treated like that and I'm sure many fans will detest this move.

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