According to the latest leaks, the upcoming Xiaomi 18 Ultra won’t rely only on the traditional Snapdragon from Qualcomm, but it’s also said to come with a version featuring a completely new in-house chipset XRING O3.
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A year ago, we had the chance to test the Xiaomi 15S Pro, a phone made for the Chinese market, which was the first to feature a custom-made XRING O1. We were genuinely pleasantly surprised.
XRING O3 brings a completely new CPU architecture
First technical details about the upcoming chip have surfaced, and they look extremely ambitious. The internal code name “Lhasa” is associated with the upcoming Xiaomi MIX Fold 5, but the latest info also points to a possible deployment in the Xiaomi 18 Ultra. If these leaks are confirmed, it will naturally be the historically most powerful mobile chip that Xiaomi has ever created.
The most interesting update is a change in the CPU architecture. Xiaomi supposedly removed the traditional one entirely “big core” segment and moved to an unusual three-tier split of the cores. XRING O3 should include Prime core, Titanium cores and significantly more powerful efficiency cores.
The Prime core is said to reach up to a 4.05 GHz clock speed, which would let Xiaomi break the 4 GHz threshold for mobile processors. That’s a big leap compared to the previous XRING O1, which had a maximum of around 3.89 GHz. Even bigger shock, though, are the efficiency cores, which are expected to run up to 3.02 GHz. That’s a value that until recently only the high-performance cores from flagship chipsets could reach.
A noticeable jump in GPU performance
The new chip shouldn’t only deliver higher CPU performance, but also substantially stronger graphics. According to leaked data, the GPU will run at nearly 1.5 GHz, representing about a 25% performance increase versus XRING O1.
In practice, this could mean better gaming performance, more stable FPS at high details, and smoother AI image processing. Xiaomi is also reportedly aiming for deeper integration of AI features and cameras—an area where Apple excels today.
Xiaomi wants to be less dependent on Qualcomm
If XRING O3 really does show up in the Xiaomi 18 Ultra, it would be a very important step for the whole brand. Xiaomi could gradually become more independent from Qualcomm and optimize its devices in a similar way to how Apple does with its A-series chips.
What’s interesting is that, according to current information, the XRING O3 variant should be intended only for the Chinese market. Global versions of the Xiaomi 18 Ultra would likely continue using Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. Xiaomi has used a similar strategy before with the Xiaomi 15S Pro model.
The standalone Xiaomi 18 Ultra is expected to be traditionally focused mainly on photography. A continuation of the collaboration with Leica is anticipated, along with strong AI enhancements in image processing.
A custom chip could help especially in computational photography, night mode, or video. At the same time, several sources suggest that Xiaomi is also working on pricier Ultra models with larger sensors and more aggressive AI algorithms.
Competition will be extremely fierce.
2026 will be exceptionally interesting in the flagship smartphone segment. Apple is set to introduce 2 nm A20 and A20 Pro chips, Qualcomm is preparing the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, and Samsung will likely roll out new Exynos solutions again. Xiaomi is therefore entering a very demanding battle.
But if XRING O3 manages to reach a successful state, it could deliver a major competitive advantage—more control over optimizing HyperOS, AI features, and the energy efficiency of devices. For now, though, it’s still only leaks and unofficial information, so we’ll have to wait a bit longer for additional, more credible details.
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