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Credit: Robert Triggs / Android Authority

Buying a flagship phone used to mean grabbing the fastest (or second fastest) processor on the market. That’s increasingly not always the case, and I’m not talking about Google’s new Tensor G6 in the Pixel 11 series. As flagship silicon gets more expensive, manufacturers are starting to put cut-down versions of familiar high-end chips into phones that still carry a premium price tag.

At first glance, that sounds like a terrible deal. Why would you pay hundreds — or even thousands — for a phone that doesn’t have the full-fat version of its processor? But there’s a good reason this could actually be a positive development for consumers, particularly as the cost of flagship silicon continues to spiral.