The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (SM8850) already has three variants. A fourth is coming — and this one is specifically engineered to cut costs without tanking performance. According to tipster Digital Chat Station, the new SM8850-1-AB variant targets the $400–$500 mid-flagship segment, delivering slightly lower benchmark scores than the standard chip in exchange for meaningfully lower manufacturing costs.
Summary
- Four SM8850 variants now confirmed: SM8850-5-AC (7-core, Oppo Find N6), SM8850-AC (standard flagship), SM8850-1-AD (high-frequency, Galaxy S26/Fold 8, RedMagic 11S), and the new SM8850-1-AB (cost-optimised, H2 2026).
- SM8850-1-AB targets ~3,600 single-core / ~11,300 multi-core in Geekbench 6: Slightly below the standard SM8850-AC but meaningfully above any mid-range chip in the same price bracket.
- Designed for the $400–$500 phone segment: Balanced performance and component cost, aimed at brands needing to keep devices below the premium threshold amid rising memory prices.
- Poco F9 Pro and F9 Ultra confirmed to use SM8850: Both devices carry Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 per GSMA certification — whether they use the new AB variant or the standard AC remains unconfirmed.
- Poco F9 Ultra has a 10,000mAh battery, F9 Pro has 8,000mAh+: Both feature 200MP main cameras, confirming the spec sheet we reported earlier.
Why Qualcomm Is Making a Cheaper Version of Its Own Chip
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is coming later this year at significant cost. For brands that want flagship-tier performance without flagship-tier chip pricing — especially relevant given DDR4 and NAND prices surging through 2026 — a more affordable variant of the established Gen 5 makes commercial sense.
The SM8850-1-AB doesn’t cut the CPU or GPU architecture. It’s a tuning and binning decision — chips that don’t meet the higher clock speed thresholds of the standard SM8850-AC get designated as the AB variant and sold at a lower price. Geekbench scores near 3,600 single-core and 11,300 multi-core are still dramatically higher than any chip in the Snapdragon 7 series. For gaming, social media, video, and everyday productivity, the real-world performance difference from the standard Gen 5 would be difficult to notice.
The Four Variants Explained Simply
The SM8850-5-AC is the 7-core version inside the Oppo Find N6 foldable — tuned for efficiency in a thin chassis. The standard SM8850-AC is the chip in most mainstream flagship phones using this generation. The SM8850-1-AD is the high-frequency, higher-performance variant that powers the Samsung Galaxy S26 series, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and RedMagic 11S gaming phones. The new SM8850-1-AB sits below the AD and slightly below the AC, targeting the value tier.
What It Means for Upcoming Phones
The Poco F9 Pro and F9 Ultra — certified with SM8850 (Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5) — are the most immediately relevant devices. Whether Poco opts for the new AB cost variant or the standard AC isn’t yet confirmed, but the commercial incentive to use the cheaper chip in a phone targeting sub-$500 global markets is obvious. Given rising storage prices affecting the whole industry, any chip cost reduction helps maintain margins.
