Qualcomm is gearing up to announce the next Snapdragon 800 series processor at its annual Snapdragon Summit 2020 virtual event. Until now, people expected the follow-up system-on-chip of the Snapdragon 865, announced last year, to be Snapdragon 875 processor. Surprisingly, various reports now suggest that it may not be the case as Qualcomm is changing the branding. The chipmaker could announce Snapdragon 888 instead of SD875.
Ahead of the official announcement, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme announced that it is going to soon launch a smartphone codenamed ‘Race’ with Snapdragon 888 processor, which is said to based on a 5nm process. Earlier on Tuesday, Madhav Sheth, CEO of realme India and Europe stated that a Realme smartphone with Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 800 series chipset is coming soon. The tweet read, “Qualcomm 8_ _.”
“This is a milestone both for realme and our users. realme is working towards being a democratizer of next-gen 5G technology unlocking the potential of 5G to deliver exciting new experiences for consumers globally. We are proud to be among the first smartphone manufacturers to come equipped with the Snapdragon 888 chipset. With this milestone we reaffirm our commitment to bring more 5G devices in India in 2021.” said Sheth.
Realme announces ‘Race’ smartphone
“We have closely worked with Qualcomm Technologies since its inception to bring a slew of high quality, powerful smartphones to consumers around the world from the 4G to the promising 5G era. In 2020, realme was one of the first manufacturers to use Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G Mobile Platform in realme X50 Pro 5G, becoming the first 5G flagship smartphone in India. The realme X50 Pro 5G with Snapdragon 865 has been widely recognized by the markets worldwide.” he added.
Besides Realme, several other smartphone manufacturers are working with Qualcomm to launch smartphones with the next Snapdragon 800 processor. Rumours suggest that the OnePlus 9 series including the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro will be powered by the upcoming Snapdragon 800 series processor or Snapdragon 888 processor.
In addition, the South Korean smartphone manufacturer Samsung is also said to use, like every year, Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 800 series processor in its S series. The company is said to be working on Galaxy S21 series that include Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra. Xiaomi is also said to be working with Qualcomm to use the Snapdragon 888 processor in the next Mi flagship.
Realme is yet to reveal the launch details of its Snapdragon 888 processor powered smartphone. Rumours suggest that OnePlus could launch the OnePlus 9 series around March next year. Meanwhile, Samsung could announce the Galaxy S21 series in the month of February at its Unpacked event 2021.