Xiaomi 16 tipped to launch in September with Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, 6800mAh battery and more

Xiaomi is reportedly going to launch its next-generation flagship, the Xiaomi 16 as early as September in China, earlier than last year’s October debut. According to multiple leaks from trusted tipster Smart Pikachu on Weibo, the Xiaomi 16 is shaping up to be a compact powerhouse, featuring several significant upgrades over its predecessor.

One of the headline features of the Xiaomi 16 is expected to be its chipset. The device is rumoured to be the first smartphone to debut with Qualcomm’s yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 SoC. The chip is said to deliver a 30% boost in GPU performance and a 25% uplift in CPU efficiency compared to the previous generation, with improvements like an increased 16MB GPU cache and support for LPDDR6 or LPDDR5X RAM.

The Xiaomi 16 is tipped to house a massive 6800mAh battery, an impressive leap from the 5,400mAh cell found in the Xiaomi 15. It is expected to support 100W wired fast charging.

Design-wise, the Xiaomi 16 will likely maintain a thin and light profile despite the larger battery. Leaks indicate a flat OLED display measuring around 6.32 inches with ultra-narrow bezels, slightly smaller than the Xiaomi 15’s 6.36-inch panel. Earlier reports also hinted that Xiaomi may be testing display sizes up to 6.73 inches for the series.

On the photography front, the Xiaomi 16 is expected to sport a Leica-backed triple rear camera setup led by a 50MP sensor. Notably, the standard model may include a periscope telephoto lens, a feature previously limited to Pro variants in the series.

The device is likely to ship with HyperOS 3.0 based on Android 16. While the Xiaomi 16 and 16 Pro are expected to launch together in China, the Ultra variant is rumoured to arrive in early 2026. As with previous generations, a global launch is expected to follow in the months after the Chinese debut.