Vivo iQOO 16 vs iQOO 12
93
out of 100
VS
73
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.85-inch Vivo iQOO 16 (with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6) that was released on September 29, 2026, against the Vivo iQOO 12, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and came out 2 years and 11 months before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Vivo iQOO 16
- 2.4x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (5498K versus 2333K)
- Comes with 3400 mAh larger battery capacity: 8400 vs 5000 mAh
- Handles wireless charging up to 40W
- Higher display refresh rate โ 165 Hz
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- Waterproof body (IP69 classification)
- The phone is 2 years and 11 months newer
- More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 16
- 12% higher pixel density (508 vs 453 PPI)
Reasons to consider the Vivo iQOO 12
- Slow-motion recording at 960FPS
- Supports higher wattage charging (120W versus 100W)
- Weighs 24 grams less
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Size | 6.85 inches | 6.78 inches |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3168 pixels | 1260 x 2800 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.8:9 | 20:9 |
| PPI | 508 ppi | 453 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 165 Hz | 144 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | Yes |
| Max rated brightness | 2800 nits | 3000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 10000 nits | - |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, HDR10+ |
| Touch sampling rate | 3300 Hz | - |
| Screen protection | Tempered glass | Tempered glass |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 90.6% | 89.7% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
- DCI-P3 - Always-On Display - DC Dimming |
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 163.75 mm (6.45 inches) | 163.22 mm (6.43 inches) |
| Width | 76.9 mm (3.03 inches) | 75.8 mm (2.98 inches) |
| Thickness | 8.4 mm (0.33 inches) | 8.1 mm (0.32 inches) |
| Weight | 222.5 g (7.85 oz) | 198.5 g (7 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP69 | IP64 |
| Advanced cooling | Vapor chamber | Vapor chamber |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Silver, Blue | White, Black, Red |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes, in-display | Yes, in-display |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
| Max clock | 5010 MHz | 3300 MHz |
| CPU cores | 8 (2 + 3 + 3) | 8 (1 + 3 + 2 + 2) |
| Architecture | - 3 cores at 3.74 GHz: - 3 cores at 4.03 GHz: - 2 cores at 5.01 GHz: |
- 2 cores at 2.27 GHz: Cortex-A520 - 2 cores at 2.96 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 3 cores at 3.15 GHz: Cortex-A720 - 1 core at 3.3 GHz: Cortex-X4 |
| L3 cache | - | 12 MB |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 2 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Graphics | Adreno 850 | Adreno 750 |
| GPU shading units | 1536 | 1536 |
| GPU clock | 1450 MHz | 903-1000 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~4454.4 GFLOPS | ~2774 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 30624 | 16186 |
| Single-core score | 3764 | 2177 |
| Multi-core score | 11619 | 6672 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1512400 | 643259 |
| GPU | 2045600 | 818824 |
| Memory | 738900 | 348314 |
| UX | 1201820 | 522888 |
| Total score | 5498720 | 2333285 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [9 tests] |
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
| Stability | - | 93% |
| Graphics test | - | 13 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 1698 |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 81% |
| Graphics test | - | 33 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 36 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 33 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 28 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 8555 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Stability | - | 80% |
| Graphics test | - | 29 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 4912 |
PCMark 3.0
| Web score | - | 11029 |
| Video editing | - | 6533 |
| Photo editing | - | 32389 |
| Data manipulation | - | 11964 |
| Writing score | - | 20920 |
AnTuTu 11 Ranking List (#2nd place)
Recent User Tests
Vivo iQOO 16
No benchmark results yet
Vivo iQOO 12
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| ๐ 2026-09-21 (AMIT RAKESH) | AnTuTu 12 | 2529668 |
| ๐ 2026-08-29 (ิดีกีพีซีฉ) | AnTuTu 11 | 2342743 |
| ๐ 2026-08-18 -> vadyamka | AnTuTu 11 | 2090139 |
| ๐ 2026-07-11 (Gojo Satoru) | AnTuTu 11 | 2358558 |
| ๐ 2026-06-21 (Armaan) | AnTuTu 11 | 2398289 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 12 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5X |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Storage type | UFS 4.1 | UFS 4.0 |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | Android 17 | Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 16) |
| ROM | OriginOS 7 | OriginOS 6 |
| OS updates | 5 years | - |
| Security updates | 7 years | - |
Battery
| Capacity | 8400 mAh | 5000 mAh |
| Max charge power | 100 W | 120 W |
| Battery type | Silicon-Carbon (Si/C) | Li-Po |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (40 W) | No |
| Reverse charging | Yes, (wireless) | Yes |
| Bypass charging | Yes | - |
| Fast charging | Yes | Yes (85% in 15 min) |
| Full charging time | - | 0:20 hr |
| Web browsing | - | 08:42 hr |
| Watching video | - | 15:33 hr |
| Gaming | - | 05:56 hr |
| Standby | - | 98 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 50 megapixels | 50 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8192 x 6144 | 8192 x 6144 |
| Zoom | Optical, 3x | Optical, 3x |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | Up to 30FPS | Up to 30FPS |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 960 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | 107ยฐ | 119ยฐ |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 50 MP 3) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
1) Standard: 50 MP 2) Telephoto: 64 MP 3) Ultrawide: 50 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.7 | f/1.7 |
| Focal length | - | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Omnivision OV50Q | Omnivision OV50H |
| Sensor size | 1/1.3" (โ 0.77 inch) | 1/1.3" (โ 0.77 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.2 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 64 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.7 | f/2.6 |
| Focal length | 85 mm | 70 mm |
| Sensor | Sony LYT-600 | Omnivision OV64B |
| Sensor size | 1/1.95" (โ 0.51 inch) | 1/2.0" (โ 0.5 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.8 micron | 0.7 micron |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | 50 MP | 50 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.1 | f/2.0 |
| Focal length | 15 mm | 15 mm |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC50D1 | Samsung S5KJN1 |
| Sensor size | 1/2.0" (โ 0.5 inch) | 1/2.76" (โ 0.36 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.64 micron | 0.64 micron |
| Stabilization | Digital | Digital |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 32 megapixels | 16 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 6528 x 4896 | 4608 x 3456 |
| Aperture | f/2.2 | f/2.5 |
| Focal length | 21 mm | - |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC32E1 | Samsung S5K3P9 |
| Sensor size | 1/3.1" (โ 0.32 inch) | 1/3.1" (โ 0.32 inch) |
| Pixel size | 0.7 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | No | No |
| Stabilization | Digital | No |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | No | No |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 5.4 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 3.2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | Yes | - |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes | Yes |
| Number of SIM* | 2 | 2 |
| Type of SIM card | Nano | Nano |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | Standby |
| eSIM support* | Yes | No |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 20 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Stereo | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | No | - |
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2026 | November 2023 |
| Release date | September 2026 | November 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $625 |
| Successor | - | - Vivo iQOO 16 |
| Sensors | - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
- Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Fingerprint |
| Bundled charger | Yes, 100 W | Yes, 120 W |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Vivo iQOO 16 is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 3