The upcoming Xiaomi 16 series is quickly taking shape, with fresh leaks and official announcements revealing key details. Qualcomm has confirmed that its annual Snapdragon Summit will be held in September. The Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 might debut alongside Xiaomi’s self-developed Xring chip. Meanwhile, some leaked CAD renders of the Xiaomi 16 reveal key changes to the design.
About the Qualcomm and Xiaomi partnership: it’s said that the semiconductor manufacturer will debut the SD 8 Elite 2 chip in September. In the same month, there’s a likely possibility that Xiaomi will unveil its flagship 16 series to become the first lineup using that new chipset.
So where does the Xiaomi Xring chip fit into all this? The phone manufacturer has been working behind the scenes to make its own flagship processor, which might be called Xring O1 with 3.9GHz Deca-core architecture. This chip could be used inside the Xiaomi 15s Pro.
Xiaomi is currently in negotiations with Qualcomm, working on a strategy for the chipset deployment in 2025, now that the Xring chipset is about to become a major player in the semiconductor market. From what we’ve gathered so far, Xring will likely integrate and complement the Snapdragon chip rather than replace it in future Xiaomi devices — a direction that may also reflect in subtle shifts across the Xiaomi price catalog as newer models roll out.
Xring O1 SoC might be replaced with a successor in a few months, but it won’t show up in any of the flagship Xiaomi 16 devices. If the rumors are to be believed, this chip might debut alongside the Xiaomi 16s Pro, which makes perfect sense, descending from the 15s Pro.
Another report about the Xiaomi 16 comes from Majin Bu, who shared some early CAD renders of the device on his website and spilled the beans on its design. You might notice some key changes right off the bat, like the dual-tone design and a new camera layout.
Its successor had four lens cutouts on the back, and one of them was decorative. Xiaomi 16 seems to have removed the extra cutout and moved the LEICA branding and flash to a different position. Part of the build that has a matte texture must be the area where the wireless charging coil lies.
Of course, the matte portion of the rear shield will be hidden in the retail model. The device should look the same from a distance, but the Xiaomi 16 will have some incremental changes over the previous version. If you want more details regarding Xiaomi 16’s design and specs, stay tuned for further updates.