- The new Snapdragon 8 Elite SKU comes with one less performance core.
- It is codenamed SM850-3-AB and seems to be a binned down version of the 8 Elite.
- Qualcomm says it should still perform better than the 8 Gen 3 in most aspects.
It’s safe to say that Qualcomm’s formula for the Snapdragon 8 Elite has received great praise worldwide. It’s THE most powerful SoC for smartphones right now, and while that means more smartphone manufacturers will use it, it also means some will miss out due to the high pricing of the SoC. Hence, there’s a new slower Snapdragon 8 Elite variant in town.
As per this official product brief , Qualcomm has a new Snapdragon 8 Elite variant, codenamed SM850-3-AB . It’s a Snapdragon 8 Elite ( benchmarks ) but with one less performance core in a nutshell. The original variant had the codename SM850-AB and came with 2 x 4.32 GHz Prime cores and 6 x 3.53 GHz performance cores. The new SKU, on the other hand, only has 5 x 3.53 GHz cores besides the 2 x 4.32 GHz Prime cores.
Image Credit: Qualcomm (edited by Abubakar Mohammed / Beebom)
Qualcomm says the altered 8 Elite still achieves significant performance gains over the 8 Gen 3. This hepta-core SoC could be for manufacturers who want to save on hefty costs of the original 8 Elite. It could essentially be a skinned-down version of the 8 Elite with one core disabled.
While smartphone buyers would still expect OEMs to include the original SKU, we believe the SM850-3-AB could do well in price-sensitive markets. The second-generation Oryon cores are great, and yanking off one core from the equation shouldn’t bring the performance down dramatically.
That said, it should be interesting to see which manufacturers take the new 8 Elite up at all. That’s because we still don’t know the price difference between the regular 8 Elite and the nerfed SKU. If it enables manufacturers to come up with sub-$500 smartphones, it might be worth it after all.
Abubakar covers Tech at Beebom, with his passion for technology tracing back to 2011 when he received a Dell Inspiron 5100 as a gift. He’s also a passionate advocate for the right-to-repair movement, believing in empowering users to maintain and extend the life of their devices. Outside the tech world, he enjoys watching anime and exploring his newfound enthusiasm for Japanese cars. In his free time, you’ll often find him immersed in Genshin Impact or researching his next gadget purchase. Before joining Beebom, he contributed to leading publications like Android Police, How-To Geek, and Fossbytes.
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- Microsoft has teased a Surface Copilot+ PC launch, set for next week on May 6.
- Going by earlier rumors, Microsoft may launch smaller, 12-inch Surface laptops to replace Surface Go and Surface Laptop Go.
- Leaks suggest that the smaller Surface PCs will feature the low-end Snapdragon X chip.
Microsoft is holding a Surface event next week on May 6. The official Microsoft Surface handle on X teased a Copilot+ PC launch, saying “Something new is coming…find out next week” with an eye emoji, raising curiosity. Going by recent reports, Microsoft is likely going to release compact Surface laptops.
Earlier, we reported that a smaller Surface laptop appeared on Geekbench featuring the low-end Snapdragon X chipset. It comes with a 12-inch screen and packs the Snapdragon X (X1P-42-100) processor under the hood. The alleged device achieved 1,462 in single-core and 9,251 in multi-core, in the Geekbench CPU test.
The rumor mill suggests that Microsoft is preparing to replace Surface Go and Surface Laptop Go with two smaller Surface Copilot+ PCs, namely Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. In the latest Q3 earnings call, Microsoft didn’t report Surface revenue separately, so it’s not clear how the Surface series is doing.
Recently, Microsoft released Surface laptops with Intel Lunar Lake chips for business customers. And last year, Surface laptops with Snapdragon X processors were unveiled for consumers. Now, with the smaller Surface laptops, Microsoft appears to be targeting portable devices like the iPad Pro.
Going by the early specs, it seems the new Surface devices will be cheaper and portable, offering good performance and impressive battery life.
Passionate about Windows, ChromeOS, Android, security and privacy issues. Have a penchant to solve everyday computing problems.
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