A device identified as the “Xiaomi Berlin” appeared in the database of Android benchmarking tool Geekbench last month, with its listing first being spotted by industry insider Roland Quandt. The handset appears to be a mid-ranger equipped with the Snapdragon 632, an unannounced chip that Geekbench claims has six cores, though Quandt insists the silicon is of the octa-core variety. While Qualcomm is expected to launch at least three new members of the Snapdragon 600 series this year, the 632 model hasn’t been mentioned by many reports so far, with some sources previously only claiming the chip will power the Redmi Note 5, which turned out to be false as the handset debuted last month with the Snapdragon 625. The unannounced module has an energy-efficient core cluster clocked at 1.02GHz, Geekbench suggests.
The Xiaomi Berlin was also identified as sporting 3GB of RAM and running Android 7.1.2 Nougat, likely enhanced with the company’s own MIUI implementation. The presence of that particular operating system build suggests the newly uncovered device is likely a pre-production unit or a prototype given how Xiaomi isn’t expected to release any more smartphones running Nougat-based Android implementations out of the box. The Chinese original equipment manufacturer is usually relatively quick to embrace new OS versions from Google, at least as far as new products are concerned, and all of its 2018 offerings are hence widely expected to ship with Oreo-based MIUI.
Xiaomi has been embracing Qualcomm’s portfolio to a larger extent in recent years, having frequently opted for various Snapdragon chips in favor of their MediaTek-made counterparts, with the Taiwanese semiconductor company thus effectively losing one of its largest clients. The Beijing-based phone maker may also be among the first OEMs to adopt Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 700 series which the American chipmaker announced at Mobile World Congress earlier this month but without naming any particular models. The Snapdragon 700 chips are targeted at bridging the gap between the 600 and 800 lineups, offering premium features such as advanced image processing and on-device AI computing while still being more affordable than Qualcomm’s most high-end products. The new silicon lineup is expected to be commercialized in the second half of the year.