iQOO is betting that gamers want flagship performance without lugging around a 12-inch slab. The iQOO Pad Ultra, tipped to launch later this month alongside the iQOO 16 phone, crams Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chip into an 8.8-inch OLED tablet that's just 5.74mm thick.
That's the same processor expected to power next year's flagship phones, built on a 2nm process and featuring an eight-core CPU with two performance cores hitting 5.01GHz. The chip reportedly scored over 4.8 million on AnTuTu in its Pro configuration, though early Geekbench runs on the Pad Ultra itself show more modest numbers around 1,512 single-core and 6,770 multi-core. Those scores are likely from pre-production units, but they're still lower than you'd hope from Qualcomm's next flagship silicon.
The interesting part isn't just the chipset. iQOO is treating this like a proper gaming device, complete with a built-in cooling fan. That's the kind of hardware you'd expect to find in a chunky gaming laptop, not a tablet thinner than two stacked credit cards. The company is also planning accessories including a stretchable game controller and back grip, which suggests iQOO sees this competing with dedicated handhelds rather than general-purpose tablets.
The 8.8-inch OLED panel should hit at least 2K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, though iQOO hasn't confirmed exact specs. Battery is a 9,000mAh cell with 66W fast charging, and the tablet runs Android 17 with up to 16GB of RAM. Color options include Ender Black and Star Silver.
Qualcomm is expected to officially announce the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 at its Summit later this month, which lines up with the Pad Ultra's rumored launch window. Pricing hasn't leaked yet, but iQOO's track record suggests something more competitive than what Samsung or Apple would charge for similar specs.
The real question is whether there's actually a market for compact gaming tablets. Lenovo and Redmagic have both released devices in this category, and they've found traction in China where mobile gaming has a massive competitive scene. Whether that translates outside the region is less clear, but at least iQOO is taking the hardware seriously enough to include actual cooling instead of just hoping thermal throttling won't ruin the experience.
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