Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is the new name for the technology we thought would be called Snapdragon 898.<\/b>
\nThe silicon brain that may be powering your next smartphone has just been unveiled, and unlike rumors had previously suggested it won’t be called the Qualcomm Snapdragon 898. This is a new chipset that we expect to see in upcoming top-end phones like the Samsung Galaxy S22, OnePlus 10, Xiaomi 12 and more. It’ll be called the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and you can read everything you need to know about it here. But why has it been given a new name? The different naming structure may confuse people, especially as this isn’t a first-gen product. In fact, Qualcomm has been making the chipsets powering some of the most popular phones since 2012. We spoke to Qualcomm about the new name, and here’s why the company decided to change it for 2021… and beyond. First, how does this new name work? The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is the name of the new chipset, and future generations of lower-tier Qualcomm series will follow that convention \u2013 for example, the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, or Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. This change in naming structure will be used across all variants of the company’s technology going forward from this release. It just so happens that it’s introduced on the Snapdragon 8 series first. It’s still a sequel to the Snapdragon 888 Plus that was introduced earlier this year, and therefore it’ll be the company’s flagship product for 2022. Ziad Asghar, VP of Product Management at Qualcomm, told TechRadar, \u201cPeople know that 8 is basically the highest tier that we have. So we thought let\u2019s simplify this \u2013 let\u2019s call it the Snapdragon 8. \u201cThis one will be called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, and then as we go further we\u2019ll call it Gen 2, Gen 3 and so on. I think it really simplifies it, and you don\u2019t have to remember three numbers.\u201d Or, conceivably, four numbers, assuming they’d have to go higher after the Snapdragon 898. According to Qualcomm’s research, the general public prefers this new naming structure by a ratio of 5 to 1. It may take some getting used to for phone fans, but the idea is that it’ll make it easier for the average consumer to understand which silicon is running on their device. Debra Marich, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Qualcomm, told TechRadar during a briefing for the new chipset, \u00ab\u00a0We’re strengthening our Snapdragon brand as a standalone product brand for consumers, and we’ll be leveraging the equity we’ve built in the last Snapdragon brand for the past 10 years.\u00a0\u00bb It isn\u2019t just the overall name for the Snapdragon platforms that are changing. Asghar confirmed to TechRadar that the company is also changing the names of its other elements that make up the platform. Asghar said, \u201cUnderneath, we used to have technologies like the Hexagon 780 processor. So we\u2019ve taken away those [names] too, just such that they\u2019re now associated with each generation of Snapdragon 8. It just makes it very simple.\u201d Expect to see this new naming structure across Qualcomm’s products for the foreseeable future. We won\u2019t be getting a Snapdragon 898, but this is the same chipset in all but name and we\u2019ll be looking for a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 come the end of 2022.<\/p>\n