Summary: Multiple phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 are reportedly facing random black screens and sudden restarts as reported in China. The issue has been reported on the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max, Honor Magic 9 Pro Max and iQOO 16, and mostly occurs while gaming. Qualcomm has not responded yet.
Qualcomm’s newest flagship chip is running into trouble barely two weeks after launch. Multiple phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 are reportedly facing random black screens and sudden restarts during demanding gaming.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 Phones Getting Restart Issues
According to popular tipster Abhishek Yadav on X (@yabhishekhd), the affected devices include the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max, Honor Magic 9 Pro Max and iQOO 16. All three run on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 launched recently, and they all appear to be restarting randomly while gaming.
Some Xiaomi 18 Pro units running the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 have reportedly been hit as well. However, the majority of complaints appear to be coming from Extreme Gen 6 devices.
User reports from Chinese social media point to low voltage tuning in the firmware as a possible cause. To improve battery life, phone makers often limit the power delivered to the chip. But during demanding tasks like heavy gaming, the chip may not receive enough power to sustain performance. This might cause the phone to black out or reboot.
What makes this interesting is that we have seen no such reports about the MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro. Even though that is is also built on TSMC’s 2 nm process, has seen almost no similar complaints so far. That does not mean the issue is specific to Qualcomm’s chip design. That said, neither Qualcomm nor any of the affected brands have provided a statement on this matter yet.
We will follow up with this story and bring an update if there is an official statement on the issue or what’s causing it.
