The Snapdragon 855 chipset will be seen on most flagship phones in 2019. Here’s what is new with the next-gen chipset
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855: This is a phrase you will hear again and again in 2019, for this is the processor that will go inside most of the top Android phones. Samsung Galaxy S10, OnePlus 7, Google Pixel 4, Xiaomi Mi 9… all of these phones are likely to be powered by the Snapdragon 855, which has been announced by Qualcomm at its third Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Hawaii.
So, what all we know about this processor? A lot actually, although how well the processor performs and how cool it runs we will know fully once the phone with it starts appearing in 2019. But if the Snapdragon 845 is any indication, you can expect the Snapdragon 855 to be another superstar.
The Snapdragon 855 uses new chip architecture built on 7nm process technology. Such has probably helped Qualcomm put more hardware-specific features in the chip. Qualcomm says that the Snapdragon is designed to offer users long-lasting battery life and superior camera performance, better audio quality and improved gaming performance. Let’s take a quick look at what all is new in the Snapdragon 855.
The Snapdragon 855 supports 5G connectivity and is right now the first processor — mobile or desktop — to do so. It offers this connectivity by using an integrated Snapdragon X50 5G modem.
With Snapdragon X50 modem the Snapdragon 855 supports 5G for both Sub-6 GHz and mmWave frequency bands, which will overall provide a “blazing-fast responsiveness and unprecedented speeds”. With the help of mmWave frequency bands, Qualcomm says users will get up to 20x faster average performance compared to some of current networks. The Snapdragon 855 also offers next generation Wi-Fi performance via the Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6 mobile platform, which comes with features like 8×8 sounding to serve more devices more efficiently (up to 2x improvement over 4×4 sounding devices), Target Wakeup Time for up to 67 per cent better power efficiency, and the latest security with WPA3.
