Motorola may have dibs on a new Snapdragon 800 series processor

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We heard murmurings last year that a Snapdragon 800 Lite processor was in the works, but Qualcomm only announced the Snapdragon 888. Now, a prominent leaker has suggested that another Snapdragon 800 series chip is indeed coming.

Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station reported that “a new 8-series flagship chip” is in the works, although the leaker didn’t divulge any details regarding the chipset’s specs or availability.

Nevertheless, Motorola recently confirmed on Weibo that the Motorola Edge S is in the pipeline, and the aforementioned tipster reports that the phone will be first to offer the new processor.

It’s far too early for Qualcomm to reveal a Snapdragon 888 Plus processor, as it usually tends to offer this option in the middle or second half of the year. We heard rumors last year that Qualcomm was working on a Lite version of its 2021 flagship processor though. So we’re guessing that a new Snapdragon 800 series chip at this stage would land below the Snapdragon 888 in terms of capabilities.

More reading: Why a Snapdragon 800 Lite makes sense

We previously outlined several reasons to look forward to a Snapdragon 888 Lite processor, and one of the biggest reasons might just be pricing. A Lite chipset could potentially shave a few dollars off a smartphone’s total bill of materials, theoretically allowing brands to pass the savings on to consumers. A Lite chip could also bridge a gap between the Snapdragon 800 series and the Snapdragon 700 family, serving up a better GPU and other features.

There’s no word on a launch date for the Motorola Edge S, but if a new Snapdragon 800-series chipset is coming and Motorola does have first dibs on it, we should hear more at the launch event.