The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powers many of Android-powered flagship smartphones released in 2023, but Qualcomm made an overclocked version of the chip only for Samsung smartphones. Now, though, it’s looking like that Samsung-only chip might not stay Samsung-only for long.
Nubia, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer that also owns the gaming smartphone brand Redmagic, has released a teaser confirming that its next phone, the Redmagic 8S Pro, would come equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 “Leading Version.” This has the same exact clock speed as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, the chip that powers the Galaxy S23 range of smartphones, so it’s safe to assume that it’s the exact same silicon.
We don’t know if “Leading Version” will be the branding that Qualcomm will use for this chip in other markets — this is a teaser for a phone aimed at the Chinese market, after all. It might just be launched as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2. But this move isn’t entirely surprising.
Samsung likely signed a deal with Qualcomm that made the chip exclusive to the Korean company for a few months without it interrupting Qualcomm’s regular release schedule — after all, Qualcomm has been releasing overclocked “plus” versions of its chips as a mid-cycle release for years now.
We’ll have to see if more smartphones pop up with this chip, and whether any of them are headed towards the US market.
Source: Weibo (in Chinese)
Via: Android Authority
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