Xiaomi to Equip Premium Smartphones With Snapdragon 8-Series Chips as Part of Multi-Year Agreement

Qualcomm is expected to launch its next flagship Snapdragon 8-series smartphone processor in September.

Written by David Delima | Updated: 21 May 2025 18:24 IST

Xiaomi to Equip Premium Smartphones With Snapdragon 8-Series Chips as Part of Multi-Year Agreement

Photo Credit: Xiaomi

Xiaomi 15 series was launched in China in October 2024

Highlights

Xiaomi and Qualcomm have extended their 15-year collaboration
The firm will continue to release flagship phones with Snapdragon chips
The Xiaomi 16 is expected to debut with a Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset

Qualcomm on Tuesday announced that it has extended its collaboration with Xiaomi. As part of a new multi-year agreement signed by the companies, Xiaomi will equip its upcoming premium smartphones with flagship Snapdragon chips from Qualcomm. Both companies have been working together for the past 15 years, and many of Xiaomi's high-end smartphones, including the current Xiaomi 15 model, are equipped with Snapdragon chips. The company has also confirmed that it's next flagship handset will be one of the first phones to feature Qualcomm's next high-end Snapdragon chip.

Xiaomi to Be One of the First to Adopt Next-Generation Snapdragon Chip

As part of Qualcomm and Xiaomi's new multi-year agreement, the latter will continue to equip its premium smartphones with Snapdragon 8-series chips in China and other markets. The companies extended their collaboration after 15 years of Xiaomi equipping its smartphones with Snapdragon processors.

The Xiaomi 15 was launched in China last year with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, and its successor — the purported Xiaomi 16 — will also feature Qualcomm's next flagship processor, which is expected to arrive later this year as the Snapdragon Elite 2.

Qualcomm Will Unveil New Snapdragon Flagship SoC Earlier Than Usual

The announcement effectively confirms that the Xiaomi 16 will be one of the first flagship smartphones to be equipped with the successor to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, later this year. Qualcomm also says Xiaomi will increase volume with each year of the multi-year agreement.

Qualcomm has also confirmed that its Snapdragon Summit will take place earlier this year, from September 23 to September 25. The chipmaker's annual event is typically held in October, and the decision to launch its next flagship chip a month earlier than usual could give phone makers more time to equip their premium phones with the chipset.

The successor to the Snapdragon 8 Elite is said to offer up to 25 percent better performance, and could arrive with support for next-generation LPDDR6 RAM. It might be produced using TSMC's N3P (3nm) process technology, offering greater efficiency than the company's existing chipset.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 With Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 Unveiled

Meanwhile, Xiaomi is also preparing to launch the XRING 01 SoC as its own smartphone processor. The company is expected to announce more details about the chip later this month. It was recently spotted on Geekbench, and its benchmark scores suggest it sits between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite in terms of performance.

The upcoming Xiaomi 15s Pro is expected to be the first smartphone to arrive with the XRING 01, and it is slated to launch in China on May 22. Thanks to the extended agreement with Qualcomm, we know that the XRING chip won't replace flagship Snapdragon chips from Qualcomm on the company's most expensive models for the coming years.

Xiaomi 15

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.36-inch

Processor Snapdragon 8 Elite

Front Camera 32-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 50-megapixel + 50-megapixel

RAM 12GB

Storage 256GB

Battery Capacity 5240mAh

OS Android

Resolution 1200x2670 pixels

More Xiaomi mobiles Xiaomi mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Qualcomm, Snapradon, Xiaomi, Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, Snapdragon 8 Elite, Snapdragon 8 Series

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More