We asked, you told us: Most of you would love a Snapdragon 875 Lite chipset

Qualcomm’s flagship chipsets have been the gold standard silicon for a while now. At least for Android phones. But some people arguably don’t need all this processing power.

As the American chipmaker’s annual chip launch draws ever closer, we expect the new high watermark Snapdragon 875 to make its debut. More importantly, for those not planning a top-tier smartphone purchase in 2021, a “lite” version of this chipset is also rumored to debut.

It got us thinking, would it be such a bad thing if Qualcomm split its flagship 800-series in two? We asked readers if they’d welcome the addition of a lite Snapdragon flagship SoC to bolster its ranks. Here’s what you told us.

Would you like to see a Lite version of Qualcomm’s flagship processors?

Results

A hefty majority love the idea of a lite flagship SoC. Of the more than 1,400 votes cast, 83.7% of voters feel Qualcomm should ship a Snapdragon 875 Lite in 2021. As Hadlee Simons argues in this extensive piece, a lite flagship chipset would go a long way to address the gulf in performance between the true mid-range and expensive top-tier.

Qualcomm’s moat between the 700- and 800-series silicon may be too large for some OEMs, leaving them to choose between compromising on features or overextending on price. We’ve seen a slew of phone makers opt for Snapdragon 765G on their experimental or flagship phones in 2020, likely to keep costs in check. The LG Velvet and $999 LG Wing are two such examples.

Read more: What is an SoC? Everything you need to know about smartphone chipsets

That said, some feel a lite flagship chipset won’t do much for the industry. Around 250 votes were cast against the introduction of cheaper top-tier silicon. Judging by the comments, it’s clear readers have their own solutions.

Here’s what you have to say

• Dt Bell: You’re sort of black and white about your survey. Yes, it would be a great addition. No, there’s no need for it. There should be a center statement with “MEH” in.
• kfjm254: Anyone else thinking MediaTek Dimensity 1000/800 series??? I mean they are more powerful compared to the 765 and just @ par with the 855… That’s the chip you are looking for, you just need to get over “soc racism”.
• Tech Fan: Yeah, that would be great especially for the regular flagships (non-plus/pro/ultra) which can make them more affordable and closer to the “flagship killer” concept without compromising on other aspects such as display quality, camera, battery, build, etc. and still having decent and almost flagship-level performance with maybe less power consumption.
• sonicsynth2000: Why not release devices in 2021 with the current 865 or even 855? 875 lite could potentially be cheaper than actual 875, but still be more expensive (and might perform worse) than the existing 865.

That’s it for this poll. Thanks for your votes and comments. If you have any additional thoughts, please drop them down below.