Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC is official. Announced on Tuesday as a part of a virtual event, the new SoC will succeed the company’s Snapdragon 865 (and 865+). As you can expect, Android smartphone makers have lined up to announce that they will be using Snapdragon 888 SoC in their phones. None of these announcements are really a surprise.
Ever since Nvidia left the smartphone chip market, smartphone makers have rarely looked at any chipmaker other than Qualcomm for their flagship phones. Sure, Samsung and Huawei use Exynos and HiSilicon chips but those are their own brands. MediaTek chips also show up in phones but most of them are either mid-range or entry-level. Qualcomm has completely cornered the flagship Android devices market. So, as I said, it is hardly a surprise to see the likes of Xiaomi or OnePlus says that their next flagship will be powered by Snapdragon 888.
Still, for the sake of information, I can report that Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Vivo, ZTE, Motorola, Asus, Black Shark, LG, Lenovo, Meizu, and Sharp will launch phones powered by Snapdragon 888 SoC in 2021.
In terms of specific devices, Xiaomi has said that Mi 11 will be powered by Snapdragon 888 SoC. The phone will be launched “very soon.” The company’s Redmi brand is also planning to introduce a phone with the same chip, likely later in the year, to not steal Mi 11’s thunder.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAre you excited for our latest flagship #Mi11 powered by the most powerful @Qualcomm chipset to date? Stay tuned! #InnovationForEveryone pic.twitter.com/MUFc251Dkw
— Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) December 1, 2020
Realme has revealed its upcoming flagship will also be powered by Snapdragon 888. The flagship is codenamed “Race,” probably the same phone that was earlier rumoured to come with Snapdragon 875 (the name with which Snapdragon 888 was rumoured ahead of launch). There is no word on the launch of Realme Race or whatever it ends up being called at launch.
Oppo has said that its next Find X series flagship will use Qualcomm’s latest flagship chip. Apart from Q1 2021, there is no launch timeline right now.
“We are excited to be one of the first to release flagship smartphone featuring Snapdragon 888 in the first quarter of 2021,” Oppo said in a statement. “We are sure that the next Find X series will deliver an extraordinary all-round experience to users around the globe.”
ZTE has stated that its upcoming Axon 30 series will use the Qualcomm chip. No word on an exact release date.
Lenovo-owned Motorola said that its upcoming tenth-generation Moto G phone will be powered by Snapdragon 888 SoC. (update: false alarm).
None of the other smartphone makers have revealed specific device details at this point.
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