OnePlus 16’s glowing rear lights look even cooler in action

It’s been just a few hours since we got our first proper official look at the OnePlus 16, and we’re already getting a much better idea of what its most unique design upgrade looks like in action. Following Google’s HiLight feature and Nothing’s more established Glyph Matrix design, OnePlus is now putting its own spin on notification lighting on the rear of its latest device.

The design, which the company is calling its “Interstellar Lighting Effect,” will reportedly notify users about incoming calls, texts, game highlights, and more. Up until the announcement, though, we’d only read about how the feature would work. Now, with hands-on videos out, we can finally see what OnePlus’ implementation looks like.

Highlighted by users on Weibo, the new feature seems to be exclusive to the Tomorrow’s Starlight colorway (via NotebookCheck). It appears in the form of three different illumination zones on the rear of the OnePlus 16.

There’s an X symbol on the top right, a “16 AREA” text block on the bottom left, and coordinates on the bottom right. As highlighted in the hands-on videos, these illumination zones only seem to light up in an orange-yellow hue, suggesting that OnePlus is using fixed-color LEDs, and not RGBs. The device also appears to sport a topographic pattern on the back, with white lines winding across the rear. These lines don’t appear to light up.

From the looks of it, the lights will be bright enough to be legible in daylight, with battery implications likely to be minimal, similar to Nothing’s Glyph interface. It also looks like the light might stay on, or blink, depending on the type of notification, as seen in the short GIF below.

It’s not entirely clear if OnePlus will give users any level of control over the lighting effect. It might be cool to be able to give different types of notifications, apps, and even individual contacts different lighting patterns. If not, a third-party app, like HiLight Studio, might need to come to the rescue.

OnePlus 16 is now available to pre-book in China. It’s a shame that it won’t be coming to North America once it’s generally available elsewhere, especially considering its other rumored notable specs, including the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro chipset, a 200MP primary rear camera, a 9,000mAh battery, and a 165Hz panel.

Importing will, of course, still be an option for determined OnePlus fans in the US. Questions about carrier compatibility and warranty will likely be answered once OnePlus officially releases the device.