Rumor | Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor is coming to new mid-range Android smartphones from 2023, but there's a catch

The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset has been the exclusive purview of flagship or flagship-refresh Android smartphones through the second half of 2022 - right up until the Reno9 Pro+, a new device from OPPO that is more of a premium mid-ranger. Now, according to the leaker Digital Chat Station, the SoC is set to trickle down further in 2023.

Therefore, consumers may have access to devices that launch as those with a nearly-new 'flagship-grade' platform for less going forward. Then again, they may have to watch out for the caveat of their doing so with a new, "low-frequency", version of the processor.

Therefore, those new putative mid-tier devices might miss out on prime 8+ Gen 1 advantages such as its 3.2GHz top clock. This is the stuff of rumor as yet, although it does look plausible in the face of reports of 2 versions for the newer 8 Gen 2 processor, the 'faster' of which may or may not be exclusive to the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S23 series.

Therefore, Qualcomm may have similar plans for the 8+ Gen 1. Then again, some devices, such as successors to the Realme GT Neo 3 (possibly to launch as the Neo 5 or maybe even the less predictable Neo 7) might be exempt from this new pattern and launch with the "full-blooded" 3.2GHz version nonetheless.

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