When an app calls Build.SOC_MODEL on Android 12+, it doesn't get back
"Snapdragon 8 Gen 3." It gets SM8650. Similarly, "Tensor G3" comes back as
zuma, and "Dimensity 9300" as MT6989. Three different naming
conventions, three different vendors, each with their own logic.
Knowing how to translate is the difference between confirming "yes this is a real flagship" and giving up because the SoC string doesn't look familiar.
Qualcomm: the SM prefix
Qualcomm's modern Snapdragon mobile SoCs all start with SM (Snapdragon Mobile)
followed by a 4-digit number. The first digit is the tier:
SM8xxx— flagship tier (Snapdragon 8 series)SM7xxx— upper-mid tier (Snapdragon 7 series)SM6xxx— mid tier (Snapdragon 6 series)SM4xxx— entry tier (Snapdragon 4 series)
The remaining digits encode the generation:
| SOC_MODEL | Marketing name | Year |
|---|---|---|
| SM8650 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | 2023 |
| SM8550 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | 2022 |
| SM8450 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 | 2021 |
| SM8350 | Snapdragon 888 | 2020 |
| SM8250 | Snapdragon 865 | 2019 |
| SM8475 | Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 | 2022 (midcycle) |
| SM7475 | Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 | 2023 |
| SM7325 | Snapdragon 778G | 2021 |
| SM6450 | Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 | 2022 |
| SM4450 | Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 | 2023 |
A P suffix (e.g., SM8450P) means "pro" or higher binned. An
X prefix (SDX65) is a modem, not a SoC.
MediaTek: the MT prefix
MediaTek splits into two product lines with different schemes.
Dimensity series uses MT6xxx codes that don't map cleanly to the
marketing name — you have to memorize the table:
| SOC_MODEL | Marketing name | Year |
|---|---|---|
| MT6989 | Dimensity 9300 | 2023 |
| MT6985 | Dimensity 9200 | 2022 |
| MT6983 | Dimensity 9000 | 2021 |
| MT6896 | Dimensity 8300 | 2023 |
| MT6895 | Dimensity 8200 | 2022 |
| MT6833 | Dimensity 700/720 | 2020 |
Helio series follows older Mediatek conventions:
MT6765= Helio P35MT6762= Helio P22MT6769= Helio G70/G80/G85 (variants share the SOC_MODEL)MT6789= Helio G99
Legacy MediaTek codes (MT6735, MT6580) refer directly to the
chipset and date back to a time before "Helio" branding existed.
Google Tensor: word codenames
Google's Tensor SoCs (built in partnership with Samsung Foundry) skip the marketing name entirely in the firmware. Build.SOC_MODEL returns the internal codename:
| SOC_MODEL | Marketing name | Pixels using it |
|---|---|---|
| zuma | Tensor G3 | Pixel 8 / 8 Pro |
| zuma_pro | Tensor G4 | Pixel 9 series |
| cloudripper | Tensor G2 | Pixel 7 / 7 Pro |
| whitechapel | Tensor (G1) | Pixel 6 / 6 Pro |
Samsung Exynos: the S5E prefix
Samsung Exynos chips inside Galaxy phones (the international SKUs) use S5Exxxx
codes:
S5E9945= Exynos 2400 (Galaxy S24 international)S5E9925= Exynos 2200 (Galaxy S22 international)S5E9840= Exynos 990 (Galaxy S20 international)
Knowing this lets you spot when the seller misrepresents the regional variant — a "Galaxy
S24 Snapdragon" with SOC_MODEL S5E9945 is actually the Exynos international
version.
HiSilicon Kirin: the kirinNNN code
Huawei's HiSilicon Kirin chips report their model directly:
kirin990,kirin980,kirin970— flagship tierkirin820,kirin810,kirin710— mid tier
Since the US trade restrictions, Kirin updates have slowed and these chips appear mostly in 2019-2021 Huawei devices.
Use this to spot fakes
The most common scam in the Android second-hand market is selling a low-tier chipset as a
flagship. SOC_MODEL is your defense: a "Snapdragon 8 Gen 3" that reports MT6769
(Helio G80) is a sub-$80 chip in a sub-$1000 case.
Cross-reference the SOC_MODEL against the expected value for any verified device entry in our database. The Hardware Trust Score bundles this into a 0-100 confidence number, with the specific mismatch fields called out — so you don't need to memorize the entire table to catch fakes.