Back in January, the Samsung Galaxy S23 lineup launched with an exclusive version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy offered boosted performance compared to the base chip, giving Samsung an advantage, but the company may not maintain exclusivity for long.
RedMagic has confirmed on Chinese social network Weibo that the upcoming RedMagic 8S Pro will come with a chip called the “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Leading Version." This chip reportedly exceeds the 3.32GHz clock speed of the regular Gen 2 chip, and is set to offer the same 3.36GHz as the Galaxy variant.
So it seems pretty likely that this is a rebranded version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. Because the RedMagic 8S Pro is, well, not a Galaxy smartphone.
It makes sense that RedMagic would want a chip like this in the 8S Pro. It’s a gaming phone packed with 24GB of RAM, and would clearly benefit from greater processing and graphical speed afforded by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy — or Leading Version if you prefer that term.
Our own benchmarking tests have shown just how good the Galaxy Gen 2 variant really is, compared to the standard model and the A16 Bionic chipset found in the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The Galaxy S23 clocked a 1,522 on single-core and 4,876 multi-core score on Geekbench 5. Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 Pro Max came in at 1,882 and 5,333, while the OnePlus 11 (with the standard Gen 2 chip) scored 1,166 and 4,962.
It’s also worth noting that the RedMagic 8 Pro, the predecessor to the upcoming 8S Pro, scored 1,496 and 5,217 on Geekbench 5. That multi-core score exceeded that of the Galaxy S23, despite running the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. That means the 8S Pro could, in theory, push that figure even higher with a faster chip — possibly even exceeding the A16 Bionic’s multi-core score.
RedMagic may not be the only phone maker aiming to add the overclocked Gen 2 chip to its phones either. Last month a leak suggested the likes of Asus, OnePlus and Xiaomi were hoping to add the chip to their own phones — though it isn’t clear when.
Considering rumors suggest there may not be a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 2 this year, the rebranded Galaxy variant may be the next best thing. Though rumors have been speculating about an early Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 launch, which could prove to be even faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy.
We’re just going to have to see how this plays out over the coming months, and see which phones may take advantage of Samsung's loss of exclusivity. In the meantime, the RedMagic 8S Pro is set to launch in China on July 5, and we’ll no doubt hear more details about the phone’s performance then.
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