Snapdragon 888 SoC, the chipset that will power flagship Android phones in 2021, has been announced. Several OEMs have confirmed that they will be launching Snapdragon 888-powered phones in the first quarter of 2021. Xiaomi and Realme will be among the first brands to launch smartphones with the latest flagship chipset which features a fully integrated 5G modem, AI smarts, gaming, and photography. This will be followed by Snapdragon 888-powered phones from OnePlus, OPPO, Vivo, Motorola, ASUS, Sony, nubia, ZTE, and Sharp. In this piece, we’ll take a look at the Snapdragon 888 phones that are confirmed and are expected to arrive in early 2021.
Snapdragon 888 phones
- Mi 11
- Realme Race
- OPPO Find X3
- Red Magic 6
- nubia Z
- ZTE Axon 30
- OnePlus 9 (expected)
- Redmi K40 Pro (expected)
In addition to this, the Snapdragon 888 SoC will be the brain behind Sony, Motorola, ASUS, Vivo, LG, and Black Shark flagships. It’s not confirmed yet, but Samsung is also expected to join the Snapdragon 888 phones list with its Galaxy S21, Note21, and other flagship models for the US and China.
1. Mi 11
Mi 11 has officially been confirmed to be the first smartphone to come with the Snapdragon 888 chipset and it is tipped to launch as early as this month. Mi 11 specifications are yet to be revealed officially, but it is rumoured that the phone will come with a 50MP primary camera, a 12MP telephoto lens, 120W fast charging solution, Android 11, and at least 6GB of RAM.
2. Realme Race
Realme is also in the race to be among the first phone makers to launch a Snapdragon 888-powered device and it is code-named Realme Race. The smartphone is expected to deliver blazing-fast performance and gaming experience. Realme Race India launch plans have been revealed by the Vice President and India CEO Madhav Sheth. The smartphone’s design is likely to be similar to the OnePlus 7T with a curved rear panel and a circular camera module that will house four camera sensors. Realme Race specifications haven’t been announced officially yet, but per rumours, they are said to include 12GB of RAM, 256GB storage, and Android 10-based Realme UI 2.0. That’s all we know so far!
3. OPPO Find X3
OPPO Find X3 will be the next-gen flagship offering from the brand. The smartphone is confirmed to rock the all-new Snapdragon 888 5G SoC under the hood and feature Full-path Colour Management System, which will be the first Android colour management system to support full DCI-P3 wide colour gamut along with 10-bit colour depth. Beyond this, not much else is known about the OPPO Find X3 specifications at the moment.
4. Red Magic 6
Red Magic 6 is said to be the first-gaming centric smartphone equipped with Snapdragon 888 SoC. The smartphone’s launch details were revealed by Red Magic parent company nubia’s president Ni Fei on Weibo. The Red Magic 6 specifications and other details are unknown at the moment.
5. nubia Z
Upcoming nubia Z-series phone is another smartphone from the Chinese phone maker that’ll leverage on the recently launched Snapdragon 888 SoC. The company also took to micro-blogging platform Weibo to reveal the details. The handset is likely to launch early next year. There is no word on nubia Z specifications yet.
6. ZTE Axon 30
Nubia parent company ZTE will also join the bandwagon of Snapdragon 888 phones with its flagship ZTE Axon 30 smartphone. The handset is said to be a camera-centric smartphone, thanks to the Snapdragon 888 chipset’s new Qualcomm Spectra ISP that is rated to capture photos and videos at up to 2.7 gigapixels per second.
7. OnePlus 9
OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro are widely expected to launch with the Snapdragon 888 SoC in the first half of 2021. We recently came across OnePlus 9 Pro renders that reveal the phone’s possible design and specifications tipped to include a 6.67-inch curved display, 120Hz refresh rate, and punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera. The smartphone is expected to run Android 11-based OxygenOS out of the box to take care of the software side of things. The phone should also come with the new 65W fast-charging solution but the battery capacity remains a mystery.
5. Redmi K40 Pro
Redmi General Manager Lu Weibing has also confirmed that the Xiaomi sub-brand will also be among the first to launch a Snapdragon 888 phone. Based on past rumours, this could be the Redmi K40 Pro. The phone is rumoured to come with a punch-hole OLED display, 120Hz refresh rate, and more than 33W fast charging solution. Redmi K40 Pro launch date hasn’t been announced yet, but we expect to see it in Q1 2020.
While these are just a few confirmed flagships that are expected to launch with the new Snapdragon 888 chipset, we expect to see a lot more through 2021 as they all will look to compete against each other for flagship dominance.
