Xiaomi had unveiled its first mobile SoC back in February, and it seems like its successor might launch earlier than expected. According to a new report from Digitimes, Xiaomi is sampling the Surge S2 chips already. This report is based on the information acquired from Taiwan’s TechNews, says Digitimes, and it also says that the Surge S2 will be manufactured using TSMC’s 16nm process. Volume production for the Surge S2 is planned for the third quarter of this year, which means that we might see the Surge S2-powered smartphones before the end of this year.
The source claims that a number of Xiaomi-branded smartphones will be fueled by this processor, the Xiaomi Mi 6s or the Mi 6c will ship with that chip, and that handset is planned for release in the third quarter of this year it seems. The Xiaomi Mi 5c arrived back in February, on the same day the Surge S1 was announced. The Xiaomi Mi 5c is actually the only smartphone to date to ship with the Surge S1 processor, and that is Xiaomi’s budget offering. The Surge S1 is made using TSMC’s 28nm process, and Xiaomi claims that it is a mid-range chip, a direct competitor to the Snapdragon 625, though Xiaomi says that their Surge S1 SoC outperforms Qualcomm’s offering. It is also worth noting that the Surge S1 was announced after over two years of development, and it was announced through Xiaomi’s subsidiary, Pinecone Electronics, a company which is based in Beijing.
Considering that TSMC and Xiaomi are using a 16nm process to develop the Surge S2 processor, it is expected to be considerably better when it comes to power efficiency. It is still unknown as to what can we expect when it comes to the Surge S2’s specifications, though, chances are we’re looking at a 64-bit octa-core processor here, but the source did not share any info regarding this processor’s cores, clock speed, or anything of the sort, at least not for now. More info will probably follow as the Surge S2’s announcement gets closer, so stay tuned for that, as per usual.