Qualcomm has quietly listed an underpowered variant of its flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with one fewer Performance core.

Qualcomm has unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite 7-core version, aimed at foldable smartphones to reduce heat in sustained workloads.

The original Snapdragon 8 Elite has 2 x Oryon Prime CPU at up to 4.32GHz, 6 x Oryon Performance CPUs at up to 3.53GHz. The 7-Core version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite has 2 x Oryon Prime CPU at up to 4.32GHz, but instead of 6 Performance cores, this has 5 x Oryon Performance CPUs at up to 3.53GHz.

The lower-tier offering comes as Qualcomm is rumored to be working on midrange and overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite variants.

Qualcomm introduced its Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile chipset in October last year, and the octa-core processor currently powers flagship devices from brands like Realme and OnePlus. Recently, the company quietly launched a new variant of the Snapdragon 8 Elite featuring seven cores.

Qualcomm has quietly announced a variant of the Snapdragon 8 Elite that could actually be perfect for foldable phones.

Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor back in October, and now we are waiting for a more affordable variant expected to be called the Snapdragon 8s Elite. However, it seems there’s an unexpected twist in the story.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite chip will power most of the flagship Android smartphones and foldables this year. The foldable version of the chip features a 7-core CPU cluster that reduces power consumption and heat generation.