Just yesterday, chipmaker Qualcomm launched the new Snapdragon 636 chipset, aimed to power mid-range smartphones. Now, reports suggest that upcoming Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 may be the first smartphone to be powered by the new chipset.
According to a post on Weibo (via GizmoChina), Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 will be the first smartphone to feature the Snapdragon 636 processor. The rumor makes sense since the chipset officially brings support for full HD 18:9 displays, running at a resolution of 2160×1080 pixels, and the Redmi Note 5 is rumoured to feature a display just like that. Since the chipset is scheduled to start shipping from next month, it can be anticipated that the Redmi Note 5 might launch near the end of the year or early 2018.
Built on 14nm process, Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC is up to 40 percent faster than Snapdragon 630. With 64-bit architecture, the new chipset features eight Kryo 260 cores clocked at 1.8GHz. It is definitely an upgrade over Snapdragon 630 that runs eight ARM Cortex A53 cores at 2.2GHz. With support for up to 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, the Snapdragon 636 chipset is backed with an upgraded Adreno 509 GPU, which the chipmaker claims to improve browsing and gaming performance by 10 percent. 
As for the Redmi Note 5, there is no solid information, but the rumors are there in abundance. A very recent leaked photo of what is believed to be the Redmi Note 5 showed the device sporting an 18:9 aspect ratio display (expected to measure 5.5-inch), with almost bezel-less design and no home button. The smartphone is believed to sport a pair of 16-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors at the rear. Up front, the Redmi Note 5 is said to come with a 12-megapixel sensor.