TL;DR
- AYN’s Odin 3 handheld was advertised as using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, but that’s not precisely accurate.
- The handheld actually uses Qualcomm’s Dragonwing Q8, a variant that shares nearly all specs with the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
- The difference between the two chips is that the Q8 lacks cellular connectivity.
Android gaming handheld maker AYN’s new Odin 3 was initially pitched as the first device of its kind to ship with Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Earlier this week, though, AYN rolled back that claim, clarifying that while it the handheld does feature a beefy Qualcomm chip — the Dragonwing Q8 — it’s not the Snapdragon 8 Elite, strictly speaking. Now, the company’s explained the confusion.
In emails to Android Authority, AYN tells us that the two chipsets in question here are functionally nearly identical, sharing key specs and the same high performance. The Dragonwing chip in the Odin 3 lacks cellular connectivity capacity, but as that’s not a feature offered on the Odin 3, users won’t notice a difference.
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The Snapdragon 8 Elite is purpose-built for smartphones, where cellular data connectivity is non-negotiable. The Dragonwing Q8, meanwhile, is meant for use cases where that mobile connection isn’t necessary (AYN points to use cases in the IOT space).
The two chipsets are indeed directly comparable outside their capacity to connect to 5G: both the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the Dragonwing Q8 are 3nm Qualcomm chipsets with the company’s in-house Oryon CPU (both at 4.32GHz) and Adreno 830 GPU. As AYN puts it, the two “share identical cpu/gpu configuration.”
AYN had been advertising the Odin 3 as shipping with the Snapdragon 8 Elite until recently. Strictly speaking, that’s not true — the Dragonwing Q8 may be a variant of the 8 Elite, but it’s not the 8 Elite proper. The company has since corrected its marketing to name the correct chipset.
Again, though, the only difference between the two chips in question seems to be cellular connectivity. If you were interested in the Odin 3 based on AYN’s Snapdragon marketing, this shift shouldn’t mean much for you.
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