As smartphone makers prepare to launch a new wave of flagship Android devices powered by Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip, a new report suggests that the high-performance processor could come with a significant trade-off: increased battery consumption.
The rumor comes from Digital Chat Station on Weibo, a generally reliable leaker. According to him, three unspecified flagship smartphones currently in development and expected to be equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 have all were equipped with batteries of at least 5,500 mAh.
The leaker claims that this indicates that the Gen 4 chip is very power hungry, which will force smartphone makers to turn to higher capacity “high density” batteries to compensate for the high CPU consumption. The Xiaomi 15 could also be one of the first models to be eligible. Another of his messages even mentioned the possibility that accumulators of no less than 6,000 mAh would be necessary.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 promises to be more energy hungry
Although the identities of the three devices have not been revealed, speculation points to potential candidates such as the next flagship from OnePlus, Oppo or Xiaomi. These brands usually use Qualcomm’s best chip and hit the market soon after a new iteration of the processors is launched.
So, what could explain the high consumption of Snapdragon 8 Gen 4? Some have speculated a link to the chip’s alleged CPU core configuration. Reports suggest that Qualcomm could eliminate efficiency cores altogether and opt for a 2+6 configuration consisting of only performance and mid-range cores.
Removing low-power cores optimized for basic tasks could force the chip to consume more juice, even at idle, if simple processes have nowhere to run efficiently. However, the counterpart would theoretically be to maximize raw performance when necessary.
Increasing battery capacity is always welcome, of course. But if the leaks prove true, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4’s power requirements could carry over to other aspects of the smartphones, such as their weight. It’s not ideal for those who prefer more portable, easy-to-carry devices.
