A look at five phones that will launch in 2021 with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 888 SoC. (Image credit: Qualcomm)Qualcomm on Tuesday unveiled its latest Snapdragon 888 processor, which will power the 2021 flagship smartphones. The new Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor promises to offer better overall performance and bring further enhancement to the 5G, imaging processing, AI, and gaming. Let’s take a look at five phones that will launch in 2021 with the same chip.
Xiaomi Mi 11
Xiaomi Mi 11 will be one of the first phones to come packed with a Snapdragon 888 SoC. Xiaomi’s co-founder Lei Jun confirmed this news at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit 2020 virtual event. While the company is yet to confirm the official launch date, rumours hint that the Mi 11 global launch will take place in January 2021.
“Snapdragon 888 is the most powerful mobile platform from Qualcomm Technologies ever. I’m glad that our new flagship smartphone Mi 11 will be one of the first devices with Snapdragon 888. This is another cutting-edge product from us and will be loaded with various hardcore technologies,” said Jun at the keynote.
Realme Race
Realme has announced on Twitter that its next flagship Race will be powered by the Snapdragon 888 processor. The company made the announcement via its European Twitter handle. As per the tweet, Realme Race is a codename for the company’s next flagship. The brand could commercially label it as Realme Ace or Realme X60 Pro.
At the moment, the official launch date and the specifications of the Realme Race smartphone are unknown. We do know that the handset will run Android 11 with Realme UI 2.0 on top. The chipset will reportedly be paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB storage. The device could launch in February 2020, according to earlier leaks.
Oppo Find X3 series
Oppo has officially confirmed that it has plans to launch the next Oppo Find X series with Snapdragon 888 5G mobile platform. While the exact launch date is unknown, the company has confirmed that the device will make its debut in the first quarter of 2021. The smartphone might be called Find X3, which will be a successor to the Oppo Find X2 series.
“For a long time, OPPO and Qualcomm Technologies have shared a close relationship. We share similar visions in our pursuit of an ultimate mobile experience,” said Alen Wu, OPPO Vice President and President of Global Sales. “We are excited to be one of the first to release a flagship smartphone featuring Snapdragon 888 in the first quarter of 2021. We are sure that the next Find X series will deliver an extraordinary all-round experience to users around the globe,” he added.
OnePlus 9, OnePlus 9 Pro
The OnePlus 9 series will launch with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor in 2021. Every year, the brand launches premium phones with Qualcomm’s new top-end chip. At the summit, Qualcomm has already revealed some of the names of the brand that will use this chip and the list also includes OnePlus. So, it is clear that the upcoming premium OnePlus phones will draw power from the latest Snapdragon 800 series chip.
The OnePlus 9 is rumoured to arrive with a flat display and OnePlus 9 could offer a curved panel, similar to OnePlus 8 series. Both phones will likely pack a punch-hole design. They are said to sport four cameras at the back. The Pro version might have a massive 6.7-inch diagonal panel with up to 144Hz refresh rate, as per the leaks. It is expected to house stereo speakers with support for Dolby Atmos. As usually is the case with OnePlus phones, the premium ones will ship with the latest Android 11 OS out of the box.
Nubia Red Magic 6
Nubia’s President Ni Fei has also confirmed on Weibo that the company will launch its new Red Magic 6 series smartphones with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 800 series. This could be one of the first gaming devices to be powered by the Snapdragon 888 processor. It is expected to come with a 144Hz AMOLED display, similar to its predecessor. The device will likely offer gaming features, a massive battery with fast charging support.