If you felt like the realme 15 Series was missing a little something, specifically a zoom lens, you weren’t the only one. It looks like realme heard the feedback loud and clear.

realme vice president and realme global marketing president Chase Xu dropped an open letter to fans confirming the existence of the realme 16 Pro Series 5G, calling it the “next-gen imaging flagship.” While executive letters are usually heavy on marketing speak and light on details, this one, combined with a fresh landing page and some loud whispers from the rumor mill, paints a solid overview of what we’re about to get. The biggest takeaway is we’re getting the telephoto camera back.

When the imaging race hits its second half—this is our answer: the next-gen imaging Rule Breaker is here. 🚀#realme16ProSeries pic.twitter.com/ATSCXbdkRc

— Chase (@ChaseXu_) December 10, 2025

The ‘Portrait Master’ returns?

In his letter, Xu explicitly states that the upcoming lineup isn’t just matching $1,000 (roughly P60,000) phones but bringing that capability to more people. He notes that the company has developed entirely new imaging algorithms and master tones.

That aligns with a concrete spec reveal. The teaser page on the realme India site confirms the phone will sport a periscope setup with 1x, 3.5x, and 10x zoom options. This is a huge course correction. The realme 14 Pro Plus was beloved for its periscope, but the brand ditched it for the realme 15 Pro. Seeing it return on the realme 16 Pro — likely the realme 16 Pro Plus variant — is the upgrade we’ve been waiting for.

SEE ALSO: realme 15 Pro 5G review: The only ‘Pro’ you need?

If the rumors from China hold water, we’re looking at a 200-megapixel main sensor doing the heavy lifting alongside that zoom lens.

The story goes beyond the camera. The teasers point to a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset that is more powerful than the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 found in the realme 15 Pro. Qualcomm hasn’t announced a Snapdragon 7 Gen 5 yet, so we’re curious if realme has managed to get a customized processor or if it’s moving up a tier.

The promo likewise hints at a “long-lasting” capacity that exceeds 6,500mAh. Unofficial chatter pegs this at 7,000mAh. Another thing: The realme 16 Pro Series 5G is confirmed to ship with Android 16-based realme UI 7.0 right out of the box, with a promise of three years of OS updates and four years of security patches — a solid longevity for midrange devices.

Xu’s letter signs off with “coming soon,” but leaks are a bit more specific. A reliable tipster suggests the India launch is scheduled for January 6, 2026, with the series consisting of a standard realme 16 Pro (likely 8GB/128GB base) and the realme 16 Pro Plus. What about us in the Philippines? If it’s like last time, we’ll probably see it go official locally in April.

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