Another year has gone by and we have gone through a bunch of smartphones that have raised the standard further in the industry. From waterproof foldables to an indistinguishable camera disguised under screen, it has been a good year. Processing power has obviously grown too, with market-leader Qualcomm announcing a new identity for its flagship chipset, but the core idea remains the same — to provide premium experiences and leading edge performance. The improvements to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 are so exciting that we can’t wait to see what’s in line for the next generation of mobile devices. We have compiled a list of phones that are expected to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 over the course of the next few months. So, without further ado, let’s dive right into it!
List of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 phones
- Motorola Edge X30
- Samsung Galaxy S22 series
- Realme GT 2 Pro
- OnePlus 10 series
- Xiaomi 12 series
- OPPO Find X4 Pro
- Black Shark 5
- Vivo X80 series
1. Motorola Edge X30
Motorola has already launched its new flagship, making it the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 smartphone in the world. Apart from featuring the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, the Moto Edge X30 has some pretty beefy specs to talk about. These include a 6.7-inch FHD+ OLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate and 576Hz touch sampling rate. It has up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB UFS 3.1 storage.
In terms of optics, it has a 50MP primary camera which has OmniVision’s OV50A 1/1.55-inch sensor with OIS, a 50MP ultra-wide angle camera with an ISOCELL S5KGM1 sensor, and a 2MP depth sensor. The selfie camera has a massive 60MP module with a 1/2.8-inch sensor and 0.61µm pixels. The regular versions are having a tiny punch hole, whereas the special edition will have an under-display camera.
Rest of the specs are standard for a flagship. It comes with a 5,000mAh battery with 68W fast charging, along with dual stereo speakers with Dolby surround sound support.
Moto Edge X30 launch date: December 2021 in China/ Q1 2022 in India (expected)
Moto Edge X30 price (expected): ~Rs 45,000
2. Samsung Galaxy S22 series
The Samsung Galaxy S22 series is expected to go official in February next year, packing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 inside. The most interesting of the lot will be the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which may launch as Galaxy S22 Note instead. Leaks and rumours also point to a redesign for the smartphone, with a P-shaped camera system on the back. It is also said to have a quad rear camera setup, with the primary camera expected to include a 108MP main camera. The rest of the camera specifications could include a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, a 10MP 3X telephoto lens, and a 10MP 10X telephoto lens for optical zoom capabilities. The phone might actually be named as the Galaxy S22 Note, owing to the discontinuation of the Note series permanently.
The rest of the lineup with the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22+ has been rumoured to have changes in its design too. The former might actually be smaller than its predecessor thanks to a 6.06-inch AMOLED display, whereas it’s bigger brother will have a 6.55-inch AMOLED screen. The phones might even have much more powerful cameras than their 2021 counterparts, with the primary camera being a 50MP sensor, backed by 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens and 12MP telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom.
We will know more details as we get closer to it’s official launch. It also has been rumored that the series might finally launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, instead of the Exynos 2200 variant.
Samsung Galaxy S22 series launch date (expected): February 2022
Samsung Galaxy S22 price in India (expected): ~Rs. 70,000
Samsung Galaxy S22+ price in India (expected): ~Rs 80,000
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra price in India (expected): ~Rs 1 lakh
3. Realme GT 2 Pro
The Realme GT 2 Pro will be the first truly premium flagship from the brand. We have exclusively revealed many of its specifications and renders in the past. The phone also has been leaked multiple times indicating an under-display camera, and with as much as 1TB storage onboard. Obviously, the phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. The phone will have a ceramic body, with a large 6.8-inch WQHD+ 120Hz OLED display. Its rear camera setup will include a 50MP primary lens, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle shooter, and an 8MP telephoto rear camera. The selfie duties will be taken care of by a 32MP snapper. The device is also expected to feature 125W fast charging, with the charger supplied in the box.
Realme GT 2 Pro launch date (expected): January 2022
Realme GT 2 Pro price in India (expected): ~Rs 65,000
4. OnePlus 10 series
OnePlus has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. From the exploding Nord 2 units to an OxygenOS update so buggy that the team eventually had to pull it, 2021 isn’t ending well for the brand. Hopefully, 2022 will be kinder to it, and maybe OnePlus 10 series will be the one to usher in the positive change.
We had exclusively revealed the OnePlus 10 Pro specifications in November. The phone will sport a 6.7-inch QHD+ OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, up to 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The lineup will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, of course.
Moving on to cameras, the OnePlus 10 Pro will have a 48MP primary sensor, a 50MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and an 8MP telephoto lens with 3.3x zoom. The phone will have a 32MP snapper on the front for selfies and video chats. The phone will also have a 5,000mAh battery and has been rumored to feature up to 125W fast charging. IP68 rating for water resistance, stereo speaker setup will be part of the package too.
We don’t have as many details of the vanilla OnePlus 10 yet, but we can expect the chipset to be the same. Expect more details to pop up over the next few weeks.
OnePlus 10 series launch date (expected): Q1 2022
OnePlus 10 Pro price in India (expected): ~Rs 65,000
OnePlus 10 price in India (expected): ~Rs 50,000
5. Xiaomi 12 series
The Xiaomi number series has been a massive hit for the brand. The firm sold 3 million units of the Mi 11, Mi 11 Pro, and the Mi 11 Ultra globally in the first four months of launch. This made sure that the Xiaomi 12 series will be indeed coming, and with some big updates.
Recently, some case designs have been leaked for the Xiaomi 12 series, and it shows quite a dramatic camera arrangement for the Xiaomi 12 Ultra. There are as many as eight separate holes for the sensors, which means the Ultra will have a camera setup like no other. Xiaomi has confirmed that the lineup will launch with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Leaks point to curved display with centre-aligned punch-hole, 120W charging, and 108MP primary camera on the series.
Xiaomi 12 series launch date (expected): December 2021
Xiaomi 12 price in India (expected): ~Rs 45,000
Xiaomi 12 Pro price in India (expected): ~Rs 55,000
Xiaomi 12 Ultra price in India (expected): ~Rs 70,000
6. OPPO Find X4 Pro
OPPO is one of the companies that loves to experiment, with the Find series usually being the test subject. From its massive motor system in the original Find X, to a fully functional macro camera with a dedicated LED flash in the Find X3 Pro, OPPO has always brought some wow factor in its premium lineup. The same might happen this year also. Nothing is concrete yet, but OPPO has confirmed that its phone will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. The firm showed off a retractable camera design in its concept phone just days ago, making it interesting what the phone might bring to the table next year.
So far, it has been rumoured that the phone will have a 6.7-inch QHD+ 120Hz display and will charge at a whopping 125W speed, which will make it the fastest charging phone by OPPO. Further, the Find X4 Pro might come with a triple rear camera setup consisting of a pair of 50MP sensors, expected to be paired with a wide and ultrawide lens. The third camera could be a 13MP or 12MP sensor with 2x optical zoom. On the selfie front, it would have a 32MP camera housed inside the punch hole cutout. We hope that OPPO will bring the Find X4 series to India next year.
OPPO Find X4 Pro launch date (expected): Q1 2022
OPPO Find X4 Pro price in India (expected): ~Rs 70,000
7. Black Shark 5
Recently, Black Shark’s CEO, Luo Yew Chow, has hinted that the next series might possibly reprise the same custom SSD storage chips as on the Black Shark 4S Pro. He also has confirmed that the next lineup will indeed have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC on board. Apart from this, we don’t have much information at the moment. But we can definitely hope that the next series will break the charts with it’s performance again. We are not sure if the Black shark phones will make it to the Indian market this year.
Black Shark 5 launch date: Q1 2022
Black Shark 5 price in India (expected): ~Rs 35,000
8. Vivo X80 Pro+
Vivo is doubling down on its camera game every year. From a ZEISS partnership with the X60 lineup to the X70 Pro+ with 48MP Gimbal camera, the photography and videography experience on the X-series has become elevated. Vivo also have brought the legendary ZEISS lens effects such as planar and distagon planar bokeh effects that can fool you into thinking that the photo is taken straight from a DSLR camera.
The launch of Vivo X80 series is not far, as we have exclusively learnt that the lineup will be launching pretty soon in India. There haven’t been any major reveals yet, but reports have claimed the vanilla model would come with a 50MP 1/1.3″ primary sensor that will support 5-axis stabilisation, a 12MP telephoto lens with 2x zoom. The X80 Pro+ will also have the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 at the helm, expect an even better camera experience with the upgraded ISP of the flagship SoC.
