Xiaomi 18 won’t have Qualcomm’s top next-gen chipset

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro: Too Powerful, Too Pricey for Xiaomi’s Next Flagship

The smartphone silicon arms race is heating up again, and this time Qualcomm is allegedly preparing to drop not one, but two bombshell chipsets in September: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and its even more beastly sibling, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro. While the vanilla Elite Gen 6 will power a wide range of Android flagships, the Pro variant is shaping up to be the undisputed heavyweight champion—at least until Qualcomm resets the board in 2027.

But here’s the twist: according to fresh leaks out of China, Xiaomi’s upcoming Xiaomi 18 series may not go all-in on the Pro chip across the board. The standard Xiaomi 18 is rumored to stick with the “regular” Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, allegedly because the Pro version’s performance—and price tag—would be overkill for the base model. That said, the higher-tier Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max are expected to flex the full might of the Elite Gen 6 Pro, giving power users and mobile gamers something to truly drool over.

This strategic split makes sense in the context of Xiaomi’s tiered flagship approach. The vanilla Xiaomi 18 will likely target the performance-hungry but cost-conscious crowd, while the Pro siblings will cater to those chasing absolute cutting-edge specs—think desktop-level gaming, pro-grade mobile photography, and AI workloads that would make last year’s flagships sweat.

Xiaomi’s release timeline is also aligning perfectly with Qualcomm’s roadmap. The company is said to unveil the entire Xiaomi 18 family in September, hot on the heels of Qualcomm’s official chipset reveal. This isn’t a coincidence—Xiaomi and Qualcomm have a long-standing partnership that often sees Xiaomi among the first to adopt Qualcomm’s latest and greatest silicon. While these exclusives rarely stay exclusive for long (competitors usually catch up within weeks), the early-mover advantage still matters for marketing buzz and initial sales momentum.

Camera-wise, the Xiaomi 18 is also rumored to inherit a familiar photographic powerhouse: the same 50MP periscope telephoto camera with an f/3.0 aperture found in the current Xiaomi 17 Pro. That means up to 5x optical zoom and crisp, detailed shots even at a distance—perfect for capturing everything from sweeping landscapes to far-off action shots without compromise.

All eyes now turn to September, when both Qualcomm and Xiaomi are expected to drop their respective bombshells. If the leaks hold true, the Elite Gen 6 Pro could set a new performance benchmark, while Xiaomi’s tiered strategy could make high-end mobile tech more accessible than ever—without skimping on the cutting-edge features that enthusiasts crave.

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