Xiaomi 15 coming this month with Snapdragon 8 Elite chip

On stage at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, the chipmaker unveiled its latest premium phone processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Soon after, Xiaomi came on stage and announced that the first device to use this chip will be its own flagship Xiaomi 15, which will arrive at the end of October.

Xiaomi Senior Vice President Adam Zeng made the announcement while detailing the first performance benefits the Snapdragon 8 Elite will bring to phones. The Xiaomi 15 series has a 29.7% reduction in power consumption and operates 3 degrees cooler at peak temperatures. Given Qualcomm’s emphasis on battery efficiency with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite, this is the first real-world example of how the chip improves phones.

Xiaomi did the same at last year’s Snapdragon Summit when it announced that the Xiaomi 14 would be the first phone to feature last year’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. Released back in April, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra blew me away with its fast speeds, great cameras, and AI features.

Qualcomm says its Snapdragon 8 Elite offers a host of improvements thanks to the Oryon processor that debuted in the company’s PC chips last year. On mobile devices, this promises better performance and efficiency, especially when performing intensive tasks. For example, Qualcomm says phones using this chip can play for 2.5 hours longer. The new chip also offers more generative AI capabilities.

More phones will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite, including the Asus ROG Phone 9, which is scheduled to launch in November, but the Xiaomi 15 will be the first to cross the finish line and show what the chip is capable of. We’ll have to wait and see how (and if) it uses the additional generative AI and camera capabilities that debuted in the Snapdragon 8 Elite.