If you thought the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, the OnePlus 11, and the other best Android phones were expensive, we have bad news for you: it looks like the best Android phones will only get more expensive in 2025.
Why 2025? Well, because that’s when most phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 – likely to be announced late next year – will launch, and this could be Qualcomm’s most expensive mobile chipset yet.
This is according to Qualcomm SVP Chris Patrick, who claimed (via SamMobile) that Qualcomm expects the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 to see a price increase as the company will try to deliver a chipset with “amazing levels of performance.”
It is not known exactly how much more expensive this chipset will be, but any price increase could very well be passed on to consumers.
Many phones will be affected
That’s a shame, because based on the past, a large number of phones will probably use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. This includes the Samsung Galaxy S25 series (in at least some regions), the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the OnePlus 13, the Xiaomi 15 line, and many others.
Notable exceptions to this are likely to be the Google Pixel 10 series (if Google’s 2025 phone is called that), which will likely use a custom Tensor chipset. And of course the iPhone 17 line, which will presumably use the A19 Pro, or whatever Apple calls its 2025 mobile chipset.
Some regions may also get Samsung Galaxy S25 models using Exynos chipsets instead, as Samsung often uses a mix of Snapdragon and Exynos – and the number using Exynos could very well increase as the price of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is a lot higher.
In the meantime, we have the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which was recently announced and is expected to power many of next year’s top phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S24, but seemingly without the big price hike expected for the 8 Gen 4 .