Emir BardakçıXiaomi is sending a massive signal to the mobile industry regarding its commitment to self-developed silicon. The company recently held its 2025 “Xiaomi Quality Award” ceremony, and the spotlight wasn’t on a phone or a car, but on a processor.
Lu Weibing, President of the Mobile Phone Division, confirmed that the XRING chip productization project took home the first prize. This is in addition to the chip having won the Annual Technology Award. This is a testament to the XRING O1 chip being a cornerstone of Xiaomi’s future strategy.
TL;DR
- Top Honors: The self-developed XRING chip project won the 2025 “Xiaomi Quality Award,” the company’s highest internal quality honor.
- The Tech: The XRING O1 is a 3nm, 10-core mobile SoC released in May 2025, positioning it in the top performance tier.
- The Strategy: Lu Weibing emphasized that quality is Xiaomi’s “passport to high-end products” and crucial for long-term user trust.
- Future Focus: The company is shifting toward “systemic operational capabilities” rather than relying on individual successes.
Why This Award Matters for Users
In the tech world, we’re accustomed to companies launching “experimental” chips that are never seen again after a year. However, with the XRING chip project win, it seems like Xiaomi is playing the long game. The fact that the company has awarded the XRING chip project the highest quality award tells us—and investors—that the company is committed to this technology. It also tells us that the XRING chip project has passed the company’s internal quality tests. As a user, this tells us that the next generation of XRING devices should be just as reliable as the established giants like Qualcomm or MediaTek.
A Recap of the XRING O1
If you missed the initial announcement, the XRING O1 is a beast of a chip. The XRING O1 was announced during the Xiaomi 15th Anniversary Strategic New Product Launch in May 2025. The XRING O1 is a SoC that represents the culmination of years of research and development. The XRING O1 is built on a second-generation 3nm process. The architecture is comprised of a 10-core quad-cluster CPU. In our opinion, the fact that the XRING O1 is built on a 3nm process puts the company firmly in the flagship business. This means they can now tune Xiaomi HyperOS further than ever.
Lu Weibing’s “Quality First” Manifesto
In the announcement of the XRING chip project winning the quality award, Lu Weibing was blunt about the situation the tech giant is in. He said that the expectations of the user are higher than ever. He called quality the “lifeline” for Xiaomi’s development. He also outlined three important points for the company’s development in the future. The three points are as follows:
- Industry Benchmark: The company wants to set the highest quality standard in the industry, not just meet it.
- User Centricity: The company needs to address the issues in a timely manner to ensure the user feels “cared for.”
- Organizational Excellence: The company’s success will be dependent on its quality management system, not individual heroics.
What’s Next for XRING?
The XRING O1 winning both the technology and quality awards will fuel the rumors of its widespread adoption. The rumors suggest that we will see variations of this chip in subsequent Xiaomi devices, like the Xiaomi Pad series, and possibly the “s” variants of the flagship smartphone lineup.
As Xiaomi improves their 3nm process, the gap between their in-house silicon and the Snapdragon 8 Elite will be narrowed, providing the consumer with better choices in the high-end smartphone market.
