Xiaomi Unveils XRING O1 & XRING T1 Chips

On the evening of May 22, Xiaomi hosted its “New Beginning” strategy launch event in Beijing, where it officially introduced the XRING O1—the first domestically released flagship SoC built on a 3nm process in China. With this debut, Xiaomi joins the ranks of Apple, Samsung, and Huawei as the world's fourth and China's second smartphone brand to independently develop a high-end mobile SoC.

In a surprising addition, Xiaomi also announced the XRING T1—its first-ever self-developed 4G smartwatch chip—marking a significant breakthrough in independently designed cellular baseband chips.

The XRING O1 is built using TSMC's second-generation 3nm process node, N3E—the same advanced fabrication technology employed by leading SoCs like Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and MediaTek's Dimensity 9400. Compared to TSMC's earlier N3 process, N3E brings notable improvements: up to 20% performance increase at the same power level, 30–35% lower power consumption at equal performance, and approximately 1.6x logic density compared to the 5nm process, although slightly reduced from the original N3 target.

Thanks to N3E's efficiency, the XRING O1 integrates 19 billion transistors. While this is fewer than the Dimensity 9400's 29.1 billion—due to the latter's integrated 5G modem—the XRING O1 achieves a smaller chip area at 109 mm² versus 124.1 mm². Notably, the XRING O1 does not integrate a baseband modem, allowing more flexibility in design and compliance with international trade regulations. Xiaomi confirmed the chip has entered mass production, and reports suggest legal clearances were verified with relevant authorities prior to TSMC's 3nm production.

While recent flagship SoCs have shifted toward all-big-core CPU designs, the XRING O1 features a unique 10-core, four-cluster architecture: 2× Cortex-X925 at 3.9GHz, 4× Cortex-A725 at 3.4GHz, 2× Cortex-A725 efficiency cores at 1.9GHz, and 2× Cortex-A520 cores at 1.8GHz. This combination balances peak performance with energy efficiency. In comparison, MediaTek's Dimensity 9400 features only one Cortex-X925 core clocked at 3.62GHz.

Xiaomi attributes its higher frequency to internal architecture innovations, including custom edge power delivery, 480 proprietary standard cells, and a self-developed high-speed register bank. The CPU also boasts 10.5MB of L2 and 16MB of L3 cache, significantly reducing memory latency and boosting overall system responsiveness.

The XRING O1's custom four-cluster CPU structure is designed for intelligent power management across diverse usage scenarios. Xiaomi has integrated an in-house microcontroller that dynamically activates specific core clusters to optimize power efficiency. Additionally, Xiaomi's Adaptive Voltage Scaling (AVS) technology enables the CPU cores to operate at an industry-low 0.46V, minimizing energy consumption even further.

Complementing the flagship mobile chip is Xiaomi's new XRING T1, a fully self-designed smartwatch processor. The XRING T1 integrates CPU, GPU, video codec, and a proprietary 4G baseband + RF system, supporting full-link 4G eSIM communication. The entire cellular communication stack is developed in-house, reflecting Xiaomi's ambition to control key technologies end to end.

Before launching the XRING T1, Xiaomi conducted extensive testing—including over 7,000 4G-LTE protocol cases—across 100+ cities and 150,000 kilometers of real-world testing. This rigorous validation ensured compatibility with multiple base station vendors and resulted in a 35% boost in real-world 4G performance, 27% lower data power consumption, and a 46% reduction in voice communication power compared to competing eSIM smartwatch chips.

While the XRING O1 benefits from global technologies such as Arm IP and TSMC's 3nm node, the XRING T1 stands out as a fully self-developed solution—paving the way for Xiaomi's future ventures into proprietary 5G baseband chips.

Together, the XRING O1 and XRING T1 represent a significant leap in Xiaomi's semiconductor capabilities, highlighting its full-stack chip design expertise and long-term commitment to advancing mobile and wearable innovation through independent R&D.