Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has announced that the company’s next flagship series, the Xiaomi 12, will be the phones to debut the newly announced Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 – though Realme, Oppo, and Motorola have also teased that they’re not far behind.
Speaking over video call at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Tech Summit, Lei Jun – Xiaomi’s founder, chairman, and CEO – confirmed the expected news that the next Xiaomi flagship will use Qualcomm’s newest silicon, but also revealed that we’ll see it sooner rather than later.
“Xiaomi 12 will be the world’s first smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1,” Jun said at the event, adding that the phones will be “available soon.”
The latest leaks have pointed to a possible launch on 12 December, and either way it’s now likely that the phone will appear this year. That’s only likely to be a Chinese launch however, and going by Xiaomi’s track record we can expect it to be another few months before the Xiaomi 12 goes on sale in Europe and the rest of the world.
Motorola is likely to be next to reveal a phone, with head of customer experience Ruben Castano revealing at the Snapdragon Summit that the company has an “upcoming flagship device… powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1,” which will be part of the Motorola Edge line and appear in China “in the next few days.”
Chinese rival Oppo has also announced that it has an 8 Gen 1 flagship in the works – most likely the Find X4 Pro – though its phone will debut in the first quarter of 2022. Oppo subsidiary Realme has also confirmed that its upcoming Realme GT 2 Pro, the company’s first premium flagship, will use the 8 Gen 1.
Phones like the Samsung Galaxy S22, OnePlus 10, and Asus ROG Phone 6 are likely to join them in 2022.
While not yet announced officially, we already have a good idea of what to expect from the Xiaomi 12 thanks to leaks.
Alongside the new 8 Gen 1 chipset, you can expect a 120Hz curved display, a 50Mp main camera, and 100W wired charging.
As for the 8 Gen 1, it’s a 4nm chip based on the new Armv9 architecture, and promises a 20% jump in CPU power, 30% improved graphics rendering power, and advancements in areas like camera image processing and artificial intelligence work.
