Summary
- Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chip will power most of the flagship Android smartphones and foldables this year.
- The foldable version of the chip features a 7-core CPU cluster that reduces power consumption and heat generation.
- Clamshell foldables should benefit the most from the binned Snapdragon 8 Elite due to their limited cooling capacity.
All the best Android phones that have already launched or are due for release later this year will use Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. Most flagship foldables, including Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the OnePlus Open 2, will also feature the same SoC. However, it turns out that the Snapdragon 8 Elite variant for foldables won’t be the same as those on regular smartphones.
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Qualcomm’s latest flagship Snapdragon chip packs an 8-core CPU consisting of two Prime Oryon cores clocked at 4.32GHz and six Performance cores running at 3.53GHz. The special foldable version, carrying the part name SM8750-3-AB, features one less Performance core, meaning it has a seven-core CPU cluster.
Qualcomm never officially talked about the 7-core version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, but a footnote in the SoC’s technical specification PDF reveals that the chip is available with a 7-core CPU.
As per Mishaal Rahman’s “OEM sources,” this binned version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite is meant for foldables. Reducing one Performance core should help lower power consumption and heat generation without significantly affecting performance. Considering most foldables do not sport the same robust cooling systems as their phone counterparts, this should help prevent overheating.
Clamshell foldables will benefit the most from the binned Snapdragon 8 Elite
The binned chip would be even more helpful in clamshell-style foldables, like the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Moto Razr+, due to space constraints limiting their cooling capacity. Despite one fewer core, the foldable version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite should deliver almost the same performance as the regular version.
Ultimately, it is up to the manufacturer to decide whether to use the binned version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite in their foldables. So there’s always a possibility we may see some foldables launch with the 8-core variant of the chip.
A possible Geekbench score of the upcoming Oppo Find N5, which will be marketed as the OnePlus Open 2 in the US, has emerged online, indicating that it will feature the 7-core Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC.
This is the first time Qualcomm has launched a binned version of its flagship SoC with one less core for foldables. In the past, Samsung has used higher binned variants of Qualcomm’s flagship chip with a higher clock speed using the ‘for Galaxy’ branding.
