Qualcomm isn't working on a Snapdragon 836, Pixel 2 to sport Snapdragon 835

By Harish Jonnalagadda
last updated

Google Pixel Review
Google Pixel Review (Image credit: Android Central)

Early Pixel 2 rumors suggested the phones will be powered by the Snapdragon 836, a mid-year refresh to the Snapdragon 835 with a minor uptick in performance. Qualcomm did the same last year with the Snapdragon 821, which made its debut on the first-generation Pixel. But according to two new reports from XDA Developers and Android Police, Qualcomm never had any plans for a Snapdragon 836, with Google's upcoming flagships said to feature the Snapdragon 835.

The Pixel 2's FCC filing revealed that the smaller model will indeed be powered by the Snapdragon 835 (MSM8998), and it now looks like the larger Pixel XL 2 will also feature the same chipset. The Snapdragon 836 was also rumored to be powering Xiaomi's upcoming bezel-less Mi Mix 2, but Qualcomm China announced on Weibo that the phone will run the Snapdragon 835.

Qualcomm likely doesn't see a need to roll out a refreshed variant of the Snapdragon 835 with a minor bump in clock speeds seeing as how the chipset is still one of the fastest in the market. The new Pixels are rumored to make their debut on October 5, and we should hear more in the coming weeks.

Harish Jonnalagadda
Harish Jonnalagadda
Senior Editor - Asia

Harish Jonnalagadda is a Senior Editor overseeing Asia at Android Central. He leads the site's coverage of Chinese phone brands, contributing to reviews, features, and buying guides. He also writes about storage servers, audio products, and the semiconductor industry. Contact him on Twitter at @chunkynerd.

15 Comments
  • Patiently waiting.
  • Kind of disappointing but the SD 835 is a beast so no need to worry.
  • In my opinion this is great. Give people a chance to enjoy today's tech without being so quick to move on to the next minor upgrade. Every phone's on a level playing field this year. At least every Android flagship.
  • Are you saying competition is a bad thing? Or that you don't want technology to improve? I would say that any improvement is welcome as without improvement we wouldn't be where we are today.
  • All I'm saying is that 2018 for whatever is next is a welcomed idea. We don't need to replace what we have every few months especially when it's more than enough as is. I'm all for improvements but not at the expense of timing. Let's all just enjoy the 835 for a little while.
  • The Snapdragon 835 is great as it is, a slightly faster chipset would be redundant anyway.
  • DEAL BREAKER
  • Lol why?
  • Didn't the SD 821 and SD 820 have the same MSM number last year? SO the FCC Filing with the MSM number that matches the SD 835 wouldn't mean anything.
  • pissed. i wanted to take advantage if TMobile s 600mhz, and heard that the 835 cant do it. they said that imaginary 836 could handle TMobile s new spectrum. idk.
  • Incorrect assumptions. For example, the LG V30 will handle the new bands with the 835 so no reason to be "pissed". https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.androidcentral.com/lg-v30-first-phone-r...
  • ok. sweet. then im cool. thx.
  • I think Google should modify it's calendar so that new phones and system releases occur near the end of the first quarter of each year, that way their new phones will release with the newest hardware.
  • The 821 offered no real world performance advantage over the 820 (notice I said real world....not fake benchmark scores), so it shouldn't be of any consequence the Pixel 2 comes with the "old" 835. Would make for a pretty solid upgrade from the 821, especially with the additional camera tweaks built into the SoC.
  • Qualcomm is already working on the SD845. They've disclosed that already in their court case against Apple.
    Only people without functioning brains continued to believe the SD836 bullcrap that really only some tech blogs insisted on. It would make no sense for Qualcomm to waste time on an SD836 when the 835 performs well enough and the 845 was already being developed. It'd be a waste of money, time and human resources.