Xiaomi’s XRING 01 Competes With The Snapdragon 8 Elite In New Alleged Benchmark Leak

The All New CPU Posing A Real Threat To The Competition

Xiaomi’s XRING 01 has finally received a launch date, with a teaser poster indicating that the in-house system-on-chip (SoC) boasts an impressive 19 billion transistors and is manufactured using the second-generation 3nm process.

The custom XRING 01 was initially revealed by Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, who did not specify a launch date at that time. Fortunately, the wait was not prolonged, as the recent teaser poster provides crucial information regarding the launch date and highlights some important specifications that many readers have been eager to learn about. In terms of lithography, the XRING 01 is expected to be mass-produced using the second-generation 3nm process, likely associated with TSMC, positioning this in-house chipset alongside competitors like the A19, A19 Pro, Snapdragon 8 Elite, Dimensity 9400, and Dimensity 9400+.

The latest teaser poster announces a launch date of May 22 for the Xiaomi XRING 01, dispelling any rumors regarding its fabrication on an older manufacturing process. Notably, one of the teasers confirms the chipset’s manufacturing process, countering previous speculation that TSMC’s 4nm node would be utilized; instead, Xiaomi appears to have surprised the competition by opting for the second-generation 3nm process.

However, unlike the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the XRING 01 will not incorporate any in-house cores. A prior benchmark leak suggested that the SoC achieves impressive results in both single-core and multi-core performance through its 10-core cluster, which includes ARM’s latest CPU designs. While it remains uncertain how the U.S. government will react to this forthcoming announcement, it has been discussed previously that one reason for Xiaomi’s rumored use of the 4nm process instead of 3nm could be to avoid drawing unwanted attention from the Trump administration.

This teaser indicates that Xiaomi is undeterred by potential repercussions and is eager to compete with the leading players in the industry through its XRING 01. The anticipated chipset also signifies that the Chinese company aims to lessen its reliance on Qualcomm and MediaTek. With the increasing costs of silicon due to the shift toward advanced lithography, it will eventually be unsustainable for Xiaomi to continue offering its flagship smartphones at competitive prices, making it essential for the company to accelerate its chipmaking ambitions.

The XRING 01 is positioned to rival the Snapdragon 8 Elite, as indicated by a new benchmark leak that reveals the 10-core CPU cluster is only 7 percent slower in multi-core performance, presenting a genuine challenge to its competitors.

This week, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun officially introduced the XRING 01, and it took only a few days for the in-house chipset to appear in a new benchmark leak. The results indicate that while the Snapdragon 8 Elite outperforms the XRING 01, the margin is minimal, suggesting that the decade dedicated to research and development has finally yielded results for the Chinese firm, making it a real contender against Qualcomm and MediaTek. There are additional details that we believe readers will find intriguing, so let’s delve into them.

The combination of enhanced performance cores and increased clock speeds enables the XRING 01 to compete effectively with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, although power consumption may be a concern. The Geekbench 6 listing was shared by tipster @Jukanlosreve, but our attempts to locate the same benchmark were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, the device in question is identified as the Xiaomi 25042PN24C, featuring a ‘2 + 4 + 2 + 2’ core configuration, with the fastest core likely being ARM’s Cortex-X925 operating at 3.90GHz. Previously, it was rumored that the XRING 01 would utilize the current-generation designs from the British chip design firm rather than in-house cores, with that specific claim stating that the Cortex-X925 would be clocked at 3.20GHz.

In this instance, the frequency has been increased to 3.90GHz, suggesting that the XRING 01 is indeed mass-produced on TSMC’s 3nm process rather than the older 4nm node, as only this lithography would enable the SoC to maintain such clock speeds while operating at acceptable temperatures. Additionally, there are four cores functioning at 3.40GHz, which we suspect to be the Cortex-X925. The remaining cores likely belong to the Cortex-A725.

To enhance the XRING 01’s competitiveness against the Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400+, and to achieve single-core and multi-core scores of 2,709 and 8,125 respectively, Xiaomi may have intentionally increased the number of cores, which could potentially impact efficiency. For comparison, the Xiaomi 15 Pro achieved single-core and multi-core scores of 3,119 and 9,673 respectively, making the XRING 01 just 4 percent slower in multi-threaded performance. However, what remains puzzling is the variation in the chipset’s specifications showcased in this benchmark leak.

We previously reported that the XRING 01’s configuration would feature a ‘1 + 3 + 4’ core arrangement, while the Geekbench 6 listing reveals a different configuration altogether. It is possible that Xiaomi has developed a slower version of its custom silicon specifically designed for another device featuring an 8-core CPU, but until we see concrete evidence, we advise readers to approach this leak with a degree of skepticism for the time being.