OnePlus 16 main camera leaks, and we're not sure if it's an upgrade or downgrade

We thought the OnePlus 15 was a bit of a disappointment on the camera front compared to the great OnePlus 13. However, initial leaks suggest that the OnePlus 16 is getting a significant zoom upgrade. Now, a tipster has dished out another notable OnePlus 16 camera leak.

Leaker Yogesh Brar has echoed earlier rumors that 200MP main cameras are being tested on the OPPO Find X10 series, IQOO 16, vivo X500 series, and Xiaomi 18 range. However, he also claimed that the OnePlus 16 will ship with a 50MP main camera.

Brar didn’t reveal more details about this 50MP shooter, though, such as the sensor size or other capabilities. So we don’t really know if this will be an upgrade or downgrade compared to the OnePlus 15’s 50MP 1/1.56-inch primary camera and OnePlus 13‘s 50MP 1/1.43-inch sensor.

A 50MP main camera isn’t necessarily a downgrade over a 200MP primary sensor, either. 200MP cameras do enable higher quality cropped zoom out to 3x or 4x, but come with the trade-off of absolutely tiny pixels. Small pixels don’t capture as much light as large ones, resulting in darker, noisier photos. However, smartphone makers mitigate this issue by using pixel binning (combining data from adjacent pixels into one pixel).  It’s also worth noting that the best 50MP cameras tend to offer advanced HDR and autofocus features before 200MP sensors.

This isn’t the only notable OnePlus 16 leak in recent days, though. We previously heard that the phone could get a 200MP telephoto camera, and Weibo leaker Smart Pikachu has now claimed that OnePlus is testing a 3x 200MP shooter, a 185Hz screen, and AI buttons. We also heard that the phone could ship with a ~9,000mAh battery, making it a huge upgrade over the OnePlus 15’s already massive 7,300mAh battery.