The iQOO 16R is reportedly positioned below the flagship iQOO 16 in the company's lineup.
The iQOO 16 has already been launched in China
The iQOO 16 was launched in China last month, and the company is preparing to bring it to other markets. Meanwhile, a new report suggests that the company's flagship lineup could be expanded with another model. The purported handset, dubbed the iQOO 16s was recently spotted on a certification website, which hints towards its launch. It will reportedly be powered by a flagship chipset from Qualcomm and pack a 10,000mAh battery.
According to a report by AndroidTreasure, an upcoming iQOO smartphone with the model number I2606 has appeared in Malaysia's SIRIM certification database. The listing reportedly identifies the device as the iQOO 16s, which suggests that the smartphone could be introduced under this name in the Malaysian market.
The model number I2606 has also reportedly surfaced on other certification platforms, including the TKDN and EEC databases, as well as the IMEI database. However, the IMEI listing previously associated the same model number with the iQOO 16R name. This suggests that iQOO could use different marketing names for the handset in different regions.
The iQOO 16s is tipped to feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 6 chipset and a 10,000mAh battery. The reported battery capacity would be notably larger than that of the iQOO 16. The latter was launched in China with an 8,400mAh battery, alongside support for 100W wired and 40W wireless charging.
The iQOO 16R is reportedly positioned below the flagship iQOO 16 in the company's lineup.
Meanwhile, the standard iQOO 16 is expected to arrive in India in December. The company showcased the handset at Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026 and confirmed that the Indian variant will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 Mobile Platform. It is also set to be the first iQOO smartphone in India to ship with OriginOS 7 out of the box.
During an exclusive interaction with Gadgets 360 at IMC 2026, iQOO India CEO Nipun Marya described the iQOO 16 as an attempt to deliver a more complete flagship experience, rather than focusing primarily on gaming and performance. He said the company was also placing greater emphasis on the display, cameras, cooling system, and AI capabilities.
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