Qualcomm announces 5G-ready Snapdragon 855

midian182

Posts: 9,632   +120
Staff member
Something to look forward to: As hinted at last month, Qualcomm has just announced the SoC that will be powering the majority of next year’s smartphones: the Snapdragon 855. It had been rumored that the company would change its naming system and call the chip the 8150—it used the internal name of ‘sm8150’—but Qualcomm went with the less confusing Snapdragon 855 moniker.

We already knew that, much like Huawei’s Kirin 980 and Apple’s A12 Bionic, the Snapdragon 855 is built on the 7nm FinFET process. This marks the Snapdragon's first shrink in transistor size since 2016.

With 5G set to be the next big thing in the mobile industry, Qualcomm stressed that the 855 would support multi-gigabit 5G technology—though not natively. Any 5G-compatible phone maker would need to pair it with the company’s X50 modem chip.

While Qualcomm is set to go into more details about the chip later today, we can expect the usual generational improvements—the firm says it offers twice the performance of a “competing 7nm SOC.” As is usually the case with new mobile chips these days, there’s a big focus on artificial intelligence. The company says its new multi-core AI engine brings three times the AI performance compared to the Snapdragon 845.

The 855 includes a computer vision image signal processor, which can identify objects and help take better photos. It also allows 4K HDR video capture, and there’s a set of features called Snapdragon Elite Gaming, which should bring improvements to mobile titles.

Additionally, Qualcomm announced 3D Sonic Sensor. The in-display fingerprint sensor is said to be more secure, accurate, and work through smudges, moisture, and screen protectors, thanks to its use of ultrasonic waves rather than light.

Permalink to story.

 
Doesn’t sound like it’s going to top Apples chips.
Apple's chips don't have 5G support, at all? Not even planned for another couple of years.
Also, Unless I'm mistaken, there's a leaked benchmark of this chip beating Apple's in some Benchmark linked right in the article. Still don't believe it myself until I see third party reviewers get their hands on it.
 
I don't see the point of comparing it to Apple's processors. These Qualcomm chips are typically going to be used for Android devices. Android usually implies running Java applications, which makes the whole stuff A LOT SLOWER anyhow. (I got an Android phone myself)
 
Apple's chips don't have 5G support, at all? Not even planned for another couple of years.
Also, Unless I'm mistaken, there's a leaked benchmark of this chip beating Apple's in some Benchmark linked right in the article. Still don't believe it myself until I see third party reviewers get their hands on it.
I believe Apples chips won’t have 5G support until next year. But I wouldn’t be too fussed, Apple devices will get 5G before the network providers can roll it out. In the meantime we will all have to deal with really slow 4G .

I would be hugely surprised if a snapdragon 855 beats the A12 chip. The snapdragon 845 was quite heavily beaten by last years A11. Well, when comparing using benchmarks and things like video master completion time, which is the only tangible way we have if comparing these things really.
 
Apple's chips don't have 5G support, at all? Not even planned for another couple of years.
Also, Unless I'm mistaken, there's a leaked benchmark of this chip beating Apple's in some Benchmark linked right in the article. Still don't believe it myself until I see third party reviewers get their hands on it.
I believe Apples chips won’t have 5G support until next year. But I wouldn’t be too fussed, Apple devices will get 5G before the network providers can roll it out. In the meantime we will all have to deal with really slow 4G .

I would be hugely surprised if a snapdragon 855 beats the A12 chip. The snapdragon 845 was quite heavily beaten by last years A11. Well, when comparing using benchmarks and things like video master completion time, which is the only tangible way we have if comparing these things really.
Doesn’t sound like it’s going to top Apples chips.
There is no way to compare them. Your comparing the Qualcomm chip (which, yes, is the most powerful mobile chip on the market to date) which has a 5G modem, AI engine, gaming support, and support for an ultrasonic sensor, to something that Apple has just re-washed and "re-invented" for 6 years running, at least. Benchmarks mean nothing unless they are run on the same system. You cant test a chip running on an Android device that is already running several features and processes Apple devices still don't have with another chip running on a device with barely any features (for example, a fingerprint sensor) and hasn't seen an original feature since the iPhone 4. The only way to compare them is to run them on the same device, if Qualcomm offers similar performance on EVERY MAJOR FLAGSHIP other than Apple devices and the A12 only offers such performance on Apple devices, Qualcomm is obviously better.
 
Also, the Snapdragon 845 had several features the A11 lacked on, including 8-core performance where the A11 only had 6.
 
There is no way to compare them. Your comparing the Qualcomm chip (which, yes, is the most powerful mobile chip on the market to date) which has a 5G modem, AI engine, gaming support, and support for an ultrasonic sensor, to something that Apple has just re-washed and "re-invented" for 6 years running, at least. Benchmarks mean nothing unless they are run on the same system. You cant test a chip running on an Android device that is already running several features and processes Apple devices still don't have with another chip running on a device with barely any features (for example, a fingerprint sensor) and hasn't seen an original feature since the iPhone 4. The only way to compare them is to run them on the same device, if Qualcomm offers similar performance on EVERY MAJOR FLAGSHIP other than Apple devices and the A12 only offers such performance on Apple devices, Qualcomm is obviously better.
You clearly haven’t got a clue. Apples chips are way ahead of Qualcomm’s parts. Why don’t you watch this video from Android Authority explaining why Apple are at least 1 maybe 2 generations ahead of anything powering an Android device right now:


It’s ok to admit you were wrong .
 
You clearly haven’t got a clue. Apples chips are way ahead of Qualcomm’s parts. Why don’t you watch this video from Android Authority explaining why Apple are at least 1 maybe 2 generations ahead of anything powering an Android device right now:


It’s ok to admit you were wrong .
That video is a year old and Apples chip barely changed. And I'm sorry but it doesn't matter what the chip can do anyway, it's still limited by iOS.

Lets wait and see some proper third party's take the Snapdragon apart before judging.
Truth is, even if it's slightly behind Apple, You'll find it in phones costing a third of the price of the cheapest Apple Handset.
 
Back