Qualcomm is expected to unveil the next-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset in October of this year. Like last year, a slew Chinese flagship phones equipped with the new SD8E2 chip are expected to launch in the last quarter of this year. Likely, the Xiaomi 16 series could be among the first adopters of the new chip. Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi is also expected to unveil the Redmi K90 series by the end of this year. A new leak, courtesy of tipster Digital Chat Station, reveals that the K90 could be equipped with a new custom-made chipset.
Redmi K90 series’ chipsets tipped
Over the past few years, Redmi’s K-series flagships for the Chinese market have followed a pattern of featuring two models: a standard and a Pro variant, powered by the previous Snapdragon flagship and the latest Snapdragon flagship chip, respectively.
For instance, the Redmi K70 series, which launched in 2023, included the K70 with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2—originally introduced in 2022—and the K70 Pro with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which debuted in 2023. Similarly, last year’s Redmi K80 and K80 Pro were equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 Elite, respectively.
Following this trend, the rumor mill has speculated that the upcoming Redmi K90 may feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite, while the K90 Pro could be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. However, the latest leak from tipster Digital Chat Station suggests a different story.
A recent Weibo post by Digital Chat Station suggests that the Redmi K90 and K90 Pro will be powered by Qualcomm’s upcoming SM8845 and SM8850 chipsets.
The SM8850 is expected to be the Snapdragon 8 Elite, while the SM8845 is a custom-designed 3nm+ chip, developed by Qualcomm in collaboration with Redmi. According to DCS, this chipset features a fully custom architecture and is designed to deliver benchmark scores comparable to the Snapdragon 8 Elite (SM8750). However, its real-world performance remains uncertain.
Additionally, the tipster indicates that the chipset selection for the Redmi K90 series is focused on price positioning, prioritising affordability over raw performance. Speaking of price, a recent leak by the same source revealed that the K90 series may arrive with a price hike. It is speculated that the Pro could be priced between 4,000 Yuan (~$550) and 5,000 Yuan (~$685).
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