The not so hot dragon: 5 cool smartphones powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 808

While it's not Qualcomm's most powerful chipset to date, the Snapdragon 808 is certainly no slouch, either. It's got a 64-bit six-core CPU (with two ARM Cortex A57 cores and four ARM Cortex A53 cores) that can power high-end devices hassle-free, and without the overheating issues that marred the reputation of the octa-core Snapdragon 810. Its GPU - Adreno 418 - is also pretty good, although it's obviously less capable than Snapdragon 810's Adreno 430.

All in all, it's no wonder that the 808 was chosen by some smartphone manufacturers to be at the core of their latest flagships. Of course, the chipset was also selected to power non-flagship devices.

If you're curious to know which handsets are relying on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808, you can check them out below, in chronological order.


Announced and released in late April, the LG G4 is the world's first smartphone to use a Snapdragon 808 processor. Paired with 3 GB of RAM, the 808 provides an overall smooth performance, even if the G4 (which is LG's current flagship smartphone) sports a big 5.5-inch display with 1440 x 2560 pixels. According to LG, the company decided to use the Snapdragon 808 inside the G4 since last year, and this wasn't related to the fact that the Snapdragon 810 had overheating issues. The G4 can currently be bought for under $500 off contract.




Here we have another flagship smartphone that's powered by the Snapdragon 808: the Motorola Moto X Style, known in the US as the Moto X Pure Edition. Just like the Moto X from last year, the Moto X Pure is highly customizable, and runs near stock Android. However, the new handset comes with serious upgrades: besides the six-core Snapdragon 808 processor, it features a 5.7-inch Quad HD (1440 x 2560) screen, 3 GB of RAM, a 21 MP rear camera, a 3000 mAh battery, and so on. Prices for the Moto X Pure start at $399.99 (unlocked).




Announced at the end of last month, the Xiaomi Mi 4c is the cheapest Snapdragon 808-based smartphone to date. Even so, its features are more than decent, including a 5-inch 1080p display, a 13 MP rear camera, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage space, and a 3080 mAh battery. At the moment, the Xiaomi Mi 4c is available to buy only in China, for prices starting at around $205.



The Nexus 5X is Google's newest relatively compact smartphone (running Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box). Officially unveiled at the same time with the larger and more advanced Huawei-made Nexus 6P, the Nexus 5X is manufactured by LG (just like the Nexus 5 from 2013 and the Nexus 4 from 2012). While the Nexus 6P is powered by a Snapdragon 810 processor paired with 3 GB of RAM, the Nexus 5X relies on a Snapdragon 808 and 2 GB of RAM. The 5X further features a 5.2-inch 1080p display, a 12.3 MP rear camera with laser auto focus and 4K video recording, LTE, fingerprint scanner, and a 2700 mAh battery. The Nexus 5X can be pre-ordered for prices starting at $379, and will be shipped later this month.




If the Xiaomi Mi 4c is the cheapest Snapdragon 808-based handset to date, the LG V10 will likely become the most expensive one. Announced by LG last week, the V10 is certainly not your everyday smartphone. The handset sports a main 5.7-inch Quad HD display, plus a 2.1-inch ticker screen that functions independently and can show notifications, app shortcuts, and other things. The V10 also comes with a dual front-facing camera (for 120-degree selfies), a 16 MP rear camera, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of expandable storage space, and a 3000 mAh battery. Moreover, the smartphone is pretty tough. The LG V10 will be available starting next week in South Korea, and later this year in the US and other markets, costing around $600 unlocked.