Top 4 Snapdragon 888 smartphones to do battle with the Xiaomi Mi 11

For Xiaomi, 2020 is a special year. The company successfully entered the flagship market for the first time. Many people recognize the Xiaomi Mi 10 series as a flagship phone with a worthwhile flagship price. Xiaomi is now ready to meet the challenges of the new year. Not long ago, Qualcomm officially released its latest flagship 5nm chip – the Snapdragon 888. Subsequently, Xiaomi announced that the Xiaomi Mi 11 series will be the world’s first series to use this chip. However, Snapdragon 888 smartphones will abound in 2021. The Xiaomi Mi 11 series will not be the only Android flagship in 2021 to use this chip. Although the Xiaomi Mi 11 series will have a Snapdragon 888-exclusive period, other manufacturers will also launch new phones with this chip in the first quarter of next year.

Obviously, these phones will compete head-to-head with the Xiaomi Mi 11 series. So, what models are we expecting? Let us take a look

Realme Race

Realme seems to have made an appointment with Xiaomi. On the same day as Xiaomi’s official announcement, Realme will also reveal the release information about its new flagship phone with Snapdragon 888. According to close watchers, Realme’s announcement comes two minutes after Xiaomi’s announcement. Of course, this is not a simple coincidence. You can smell the smoke of the competition between the two manufacturers across the screen.

Whether it is Xiaomi Mi 11 or Realme Race, they are all new flagship phones with Snapdragon 888. This move means that the two new flagship phones will have a head-on confrontation.

Although Xu Qi did not disclose more information about the new machine, there have been a lot of news on the Internet.  From what we know so far, the Realme Race will use a splicing element design, which is similar to the OnePlus Concept One. The Realme brand logo will be at the upper right while the upper left hosts the matrix triple-camera solution. According to reports, the main camera of this device is 64MP. 

In addition, we expect the Realme Race to arrive with a 125W super flash charge. Furthermore, this smartphone will also launch an ACG co-branded in-depth customized version.

From the perspective of the design alone, the Realme Race plain leather version seems to combine the classic designs of OPPO and OnePlus, such as the plain leather of the OPPO Find X2 series and the splicing element design of the OnePlus concept phone. After all, they are all a family and are similar. 

Honor V40

As an old rival of Xiaomi, how could it be less glorious? According to recent reports, the Honor V40 series may come with a 300Hz screen touch sampling rate. This exceeds 270Hz which is the current highest for Chinese smartphones.

Earlier renders of this device show that it comes with a hyperboloid dual punch-hole waterfall screen design. The camera module on the back of the fuselage adopts a circular design similar to a mechanical dial. The design inspiration comes from the classic four-eye dial of the famous watch and the flash is in the center of the four lenses. On the left side of the camera module, we can see the words “Matrix Camera Asphlens”

According to the 3C certification, the Honor V40 (YOK-AN10) will use a 66W charging adapter and support 45W wireless fast charging.

It is still unclear what processor the Honor V40 will be. However, there are strong indications that one of the Honor V40 series will use the Snapdragon 888 SoC. There are also reports that since Honor is now independent and will not use Kirin chips, it may also add Dimensity 1000+ to its supply chain. If Honor uses only the Dimensity 1000+ for this phone, then it will be below the Xiaomi Mi 11 series. However, considering Honor’s performance in the Chinese market, it will give Xiaomi a good run for its money. 

OPPO Find X3 series

Oppo is another manufacturer that will use the Snapdragon 888 SoC for sure. The company will use this new flagship chip for its upcoming OPPO Find X3 series. According to Oppo, this flagship will be official in the first quarter of the year. 

Recent reports show that the Find X3 series will come with a 6.7-inch 3K QHD screen that supports a 120Hz refresh rate. This display also supports adaptive refresh rate and 10bit color depth. In terms of cameras, the Find X3 series rear matrix camera module has built-in dual main cameras and an ordinary auxiliary lens. It uses the same 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 image sensor as OPPO Reno 5 Pro+.

In addition, the Find X3 series standard version will use a 4500mAh battery while the Pro version will support 125W wired fast charging and 65W wireless fast charging. It is worth mentioning that the wireless charging of the Find X3 series supports the WLC protocol. This technology can charge devices that do not support wireless charging but have NFC. However, the charging power is very low.

The latest leak shows that the front of the OPPO Find X3 Pro is consistent with Find X2 Pro. The rear has a four-camera solution. The appearance of the camera module looks a bit like the iPhone 12 Pro. It has a rounded square design but the lens arrangement is just the opposite.

Judging from the paper parameters alone, the OPPO Find X3 series hardware is very sufficient. It will obviously have a heads-on challenge with the Xiaomi Mi 11 series. 

iQOO 7 series

In recent years, iQOO has captured the hearts of many users with its ultra-high configuration and cost-effectiveness. On December 19, the official Weibo of iQOO mobile phone announced that it would release its latest flagship iQOO 7 series in January next year.

More interestingly, the iQOO7 series will cooperate with BMW to launch a deeply customized model. This product was exposed in the KPL autumn finals. We can see that the overall ID design of the device tilts towards the vivo X60, which further weakens the e-sports element.

From the live broadcast video, iQOO7 uses Samsung AMOLED flexible straight screen, supports 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate. According to recent renders, the iQOO7 comes with a center punch-hole design. 

Although it is still unclear what the iQOO7 main camera model is, there are reports that it may be the IMX598 image sensor with a 48-megapixel outsole main camera. In addition, the device will also support 120W wired fast charging.

Under the hood, it will have a Snapdragon 888 SoC. The performance of the iQOO 7 series in China cannot be underestimated. Therefore, it may be one of the main competitors of the Xiaomi 11 series.

Conclusion

Despite the exclusivity of the Snapdragon 888 SoC to the Xiaomi Mi 11 series, it will obviously face competition. After the exclusive period, no less than two Snapdragon 888 smartphones will hit the market. However, it will boil down to “what the phones have to offer”. Xiaomi Mi 11 series is already at a disadvantage by expunging the charger. However, it claims that there will be improvements to the screen, battery, charging, camera, and software. Whether these will be enough for the Mi 11 series to seize the market remains to be seen.