With Qualcomm confirming the development for Snapdragon 835, speculations suggest that the new SoC will be featured in early 2017 flagship releases, including the Xiaomi Mi 6.

Reports out of China indicate that the Xiaomi Mi 6 will be the first domestic device to feature the upcoming Qualcomm chipset once it releases early 2017. It is already expected, since most Mi releases from Xiaomi feature the latest Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm. When the Mi 5 launched, it sported the then-new Snapdragon 820 processor, while a recent step-up variant, the Mi 5s, was released featuring the Snapdragon 821 chipset.

Meanwhile, it is also said that the next Xiaomi flagship will be joined by the Samsung Galaxy S8 as the initial set of flagships to house the new Snapdragon 835 chipset. This is already a hint at when fans can expect the Xiaomi flagship since Samsung is said to debut the Galaxy S8 in February with a subsequent release the month after.

A March release date for the Xiaomi Mi 6 is highly likely, as it follows the early 2017 appearance of the new Qualcomm chipset. In addition, the China-based tech maker will likely stick to its year-long cycle refresh for its flagships. The current-gen Mi 5 was launched in April this year at the 2016 Mobile World Congress (MWC). Should Xiaomi use the same debut event, a March release for the Mi 6 is possible since the 2017 MWC is slated from Feb. 27 to March 2.

It is interesting to note that the supposed co-chipset device, the Samsung Galaxy S8, is said to debut a day before the 2017 MWC, on Feb. 26.

Meanwhile, aside from the Snapdragon 835 SoC, it is already expected that Xiaomi will introduce a number of major improvements for the Mi 6 flagship. Xiaomi has had a good run for this year, topping its release schedule with the new Mi Note 2 and its popular concept phone, the Mi MIX.