What you need to know
- Qualcomm quietly announced a binned version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with seven cores.
- Offering the same clock speeds as the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite, this new variant has one less performance core.
- This version of Qualcomm's pricey chip could offer reprieve to OEMs struggling to incorporate Snapdragon 8 Elite in their devices without raising prices.
Qualcomm makes the fastest Android mobile chip on the market today, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and its processor lineup looks to be expanding. We've already heard rumors that the brand could be prepping a lower-tier Snapdragon 8s Elite chip and a higher-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy system-on-a-chip. Now, the chipmaker has quietly announced a separate seven-core Snapdragon 8 Elite variant, according to a newly-listed document.
As spotted by Android Authority, this new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip appears to be identical to the regular version, minus a performance core. It's listed under part number SM8750-3-AB on Qualcomm's website. You'll get two Prime cores with this chip, just like the regular Snapdragon 8 Elite, but only five performance cores instead of six.
This could be a "binned" Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. SoC binning is when a chipmaker offers a lower-cost and lower-performance version of a processor with cores disabled, and it's a way to get usage out of chips that may not meet the general quality control and yield requirements for the regular variant.
Although one performance core appears to be disabled on this Snapdragon 8 Elite variant, everything else is the same, including the clock speeds. The two Prime cores are clocked at up to 4.32GHz, while the five performance cores are clocked at up to 3.53GHz.
Although this lesser Snapdragon 8 Elite model and its 2+5 configuration will undoubtedly be weaker than the full-fledged Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, it's unclear by how much. If the binned Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with seven cores provides similar performance to the octa-core Snapdragon 8 Elite, it could be enticing to OEMs. It has been widely reported that the Snapdragon 8 Elite is more expensive than past Snapdragon chips, and a cheaper chip would be an attractive option for midrange devices.
However, due to the wide variety of flagship devices that offer an eight-core Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, it's unlikely that OEMs would be able to use the seven-core variant in a smartphone without offering a lower sticker price.
We'll have to wait for this new Snapdragon 8 Elite variant to show up in a device to test how it compares to the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite. Additionally, it's worth keeping an eye out for the other Snapdragon 8 Elite revisions rumored to debut soon, like the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite "for Galaxy" and the Snapdragon 8s Elite.
