Weekly Poll: Do flagship chipsets still matter?

This week Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The week before MediaTek announced its Dimension 9200. And of course Apple’s iPhone 14 series came out recently but only the pros got the new chipset. Next-generation flagship chips are ready to prove their mettle in benchmarks, but do flagship chipsets matter?

After years of impressive improvements, smartphone chipsets show no signs of slowing down. Right now ray tracing support is becoming standard on high-end GPUs and AI accelerators are improving by leaps and bounds. CPU efficiency is also increasing. However, choosing the right semiconductor node has proven to be critical to the actual performance of a chip. Sometimes newer also means hotter (in a bad way).

A flagship chip stays competitive for years to come. The Snapdragon 865, which morphed into the 870, has been around longer than most smartphone chips. And why shouldn’t it, it’s fast and efficient. The GPU is one of the slowest aging components on a flagship chip as mid-range GPUs are often quite underpowered. So, some think getting a flagship chip from a year or two ago is a better deal, now that all the premium is gone while performance is still on par.

There is one special case we should mention: gaming phones. For these, peak performance is a key part of their identity. There have been a few budget offerings that use an older chip (e.g. the Snapdragon 870 mentioned above), but for the most part the latest gaming phones pack the latest flagship chipset, even if that means cutting corners on the camera setup.

Then there are those who say “anything, as long as the camera shutter lag isn’t too bad”. You don’t need a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or a Dimension 9200 to scroll through an app drawer or Facebook, a mid-range chip will handle that just as well. And if it can cover your camera and connectivity needs, there’s no need to pay extra for a potentially power-hungry flagship chip.

What is your position on this matter: is the latest and greatest chipset a must for you? Vote below or if it doesn’t work you can use this page.