The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 “for Galaxy” may not remain exclusive to the Galaxy S23 phones for much longer. And no, it isn’t coming to another Samsung phone. Instead, the overclocked or faster version of the latest Qualcomm will soon be available to other brands. More precisely, some Chinese firms are said to be readying new devices with this chip, though we don’t have specifics about the devices in question.
Qualcomm reserved the best of Snapdragon for Samsung this year. It offered an exclusive overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to the Korean firm, which used the chip in its latest flagships. The chip has a faster CPU (3.36GHz vs. 3.2GHz) and GPU (719MHz vs. 680MHz) than the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 available to other brands. It also reportedly boasts an improved AI processor.
It appeared that this overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which has the suffix “for Galaxy” on its name, will remain exclusive to the Galaxy S23 series. But the latest word from the rumor mill is that Qualcomm will sell it to other brands as well. A reputed Weibo tipster who goes by the username Digital Chat Station recently claimed that the Samsung monopoly of this chip will end soon (via). Some Chinese brands will use the processor in their upcoming devices.
As said earlier, there’s no word on the brands or devices in question here. But ASUS, OnePlus, and Xiaomi could be among those readying new phones with the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. All of these firms are expected to launch new flagship devices in the coming months. If this claim from Digital Chat Station turns out to be accurate, the rumor mill should soon give us more information about those products.
The overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 may substitute the “Plus” edition this year
In recent years, Qualcomm has been following up its latest flagship chips with “Plus” editions a few months later. These upgrades usually come in the middle of the year and bring a CPU and GPU boost. However, there are rumors that the company won’t launch a mid-year refresh of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 this year. It plans to go straight to the Snapdargon 8 Gen 3 later this year.
Considering all of the recent developments, it’s likely that the overclocked version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will substitute this year’s “Plus” edition. The company will remove the “for Galaxy” suffix from the name for obvious reasons. So we wouldn’t be surprised if it arrives as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2. Stay tuned and we will let you know as soon as we have more information.