Flagship Android phones - at least those launched in North America - tend to use the same chipsets. In early 2016, it was the Snapdragon 820, and the year before, it was the Snapdragon 808 and 810. With Qualcomm"s recent announcement of its new flagship Snapdragon 835, one could reasonably assume that the spring lineup would be using that.
According to a new report from Forbes, this assumption would be a mistake. LG"s upcoming G6 will instead use the Snapdragon 821, which is what Google"s Pixel and Pixel XL launched with in the fall.
Now, you"re probably wondering why LG would opt for a last-generation SoC that"s only a moderate improvement over both of its 2016 flagships, and the answer is simple: Samsung bought all of the Snapdragon 835 supply for its upcoming Galaxy S8. According to the report, Qualcomm"s next chipset won"t be widely available until the Galaxy S8 launches, which will be April 14 in South Korea.
It"s worth noting that Qualcomm partnered with Samsung to develop the chip, which uses a 10nm FinFET process. Of course, anything beyond that would be pure speculation.
Assuming that the report is accurate, it also explains why HTC just launched its U Ultra handset with a Snapdragon 821. The company also said that this is its new flagship line, so don"t expect to see an HTC 11.
There will be other devices to launch later this year with the Snapdragon 835. Microsoft is porting full Windows 10 to ARM, and we know that the first devices to support it will use the 835, but those won"t come until the second half of the year.
What do you think of the idea that Samsung"s Galaxy S8 might be the only spring flagship to launch with a Snapdragon 835? Let us know in the comments!