Leaker says OnePlus 16 could sport record-breaking bezels this year
The OnePlus 16 will be released later this year but it might not be officially offered in the U.S.
OnePlus 16 could sport bezels less than 1mm thick | Image by PhoneArena
It's funny how the smartphone industry goes through different phases every few years. You might remember when phone manufacturers were all promoting their cameras, megapixel counts, and low-light photography. This was eventually replaced by the bezel era as manufacturers competed to reduce the size of the bezels surrounding their phones.
Smartphone manufacturers continue to shrink the size of smartphone bezels
While the bezel era has been replaced, and we are now in the AI era (note how important it has been for Apple to right itself in this regard), smartphone users still appreciate the look of thinner bezels, and the iPhone 20 is reportedly coming to the marketplace in 2027 with a bezel-less design. This will be achieved by using a display that wraps itself over all four sides thus eliminating any viewable borders.
Digital Chat Station's post after being machine translated. | Image by Weibo
Before Apple commemorates two decades of the iPhone next year, OnePlus could have a nearly bezel-less model on the shelves. According to reliable leaker Digital Chat Station, the panel for the OnePlus 16 could sport record-breaking bezels measuring less than 1mm on all four sides. The OnePlus 15 has bezels measuring 1.15mm, making it likely that the next iteration of the phone carries bezels smaller than 1mm.
Which of these rumored OnePlus 16 specs excites you the most?
As a comparison, the side bezels on the iPhone 17 Pro Max are estimated at 2.5mm. For the Galaxy S26 Ultra, the bezels are estimated to be 1.15mm to 2mm in size.
Smartphone bezels have greatly decreased in size over the years. The original iPhone had bezels of 5.5mm to 6mm on the left and right sides, according to one estimate. The top and bottom bezels on the groundbreaking device weighed in at 18mm to 20mm to accommodate the earpiece speaker at the top and the pre-Touch ID home button on the bottom.
The OnePlus 16 display is rumored to include a 185Hz refresh rate
OnePlus is testing a new panel with a refresh rate of 185Hz, which is not quite as fast and smooth as the originally rumored 240Hz refresh rate. This means that the OnePlus 16 could redraw the images on its screen 185 times per second. That tops the 165Hz refresh rate currently found on the OnePlus 15 display.
The rear camera setup for the OnePlus 16 is still in flux
The OnePlus 16 should see the light of day during Q4 2026, carrying a 6.78-inch 1.5K resolution display produced by Chinese manufacturer BOE Technology Group. The rear camera setup could include:
- 50MP main camera
- 200MP periscope telephoto camera
- 40MP telephoto camera with 3.5x optical zoom
This configuration is not final, and Digital Chat Station has previously said that OnePlus is considering swapping the 200MP periscope telephoto sensor and the 50MP sensor for the main camera. That would result in the OnePlus 16 having a 200MP main camera and a 50MP periscope telephoto camera. Storage options include 256GB, 512GB, and a 1TB variant that might surface only in China.
Digital Chat Station also expects the OnePlus 16 to be equipped with a huge 9,000mAh battery. The company will use its high-density "Glacier Battery" technology that allows a larger-capacity battery to fit inside the standard smartphone body.
You might have to import the OnePlus 16 even if you live in the U.S.
It also is quite possible that the OnePlus 16 will not be officially released in the U.S. In that scenario, users will have to import the phone and pay more than if it were offered in the U.S. OnePlus parent Oppo is changing its global market strategy, and as a result, OnePlus might pull out of the U.S., U.K., and European markets.
Last year, OnePlus had a small 1% to 2% of the U.S. smartphone market. Most analyst firms had the brand placed inside the "Others" category when dividing up smartphone brands in the U.S. based on last year's sales. With numbers like that, you can understand why Oppo might have already decided to stop releasing official OnePlus phones in the U.S.
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