The ROG Phone 6 is coming with Qualcomm’s latest SoC
Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 this morning, a souped-up version of the 8 Gen 1 chip launched late last year, now made by TSMC. With improvements to CPU and GPU performance — not to mention claims of up to 30% more power efficiency under certain conditions — it seems like the chip to get for late-2022 smartphones. It didn’t take long for some OEMs to start teasing their upcoming phones, with Asus and OSOM both taking to social media today to announce their involvement with Qualcomm.
Asus kicked things off on Instagram, teasing the ROG Phone 6 with a photo of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (via Mishaal Rahman). The wait for Qualcomm’s latest chip explains why we haven’t heard much from the company about a potential successor to one of 2021’s best Android phones. Last year, the ROG Phone 5s — complete with a Snapdragon 888+ — hit retailers just a few months after the original model. Clearly, Asus has decided to abandon the upgraded model altogether, instead waiting for Qualcomm to launch a mid-gen chipset.
With this marking one of our earliest teases for the ROG Phone 6, it seems like we might not have to wait much longer to see it in action. Asus announced its ROG Phone 5 event weeks in advance last year, so don’t expect the company to keep us in the dark on when this year’s ultra-powerful gaming phone is ready to make a public debut.
It’s not the only OEM teasing the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 today. OSOM has gradually been hinting at its upcoming phone for months now, built from the ground up by ex-Essential staff. Although we’ve gotten glimpses at its hardware and teases surrounding the software, we hadn’t heard too much about its internal specs — until now. OSOM confirmed on Twitter that its debut device will use a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, teeing it up to be one of the most powerful options on the market when it arrives later this year. CEO Jason Keats told us in December that the device had slid from a planned MWC launch to summer 2022. That short delay could be a blessing for the start-up as it works to attract attention in an ever-stagnating field.
Read Next
