Qualcomm's “Fire-Breathing” Snapdragon 865 (5G Next ...

While the performance indicators are marginal, it is still significant in terms of the power efficiency. The overall boost from the 865 is ... Snapdragon865SoCProcessorQualcomm’s“Fire-Breathing”Snapdragon865(5GNextGeneration)VincentTaboraFollowNov30,2020·4minreadBeforeAppleproduceditsfirsteverARM-basedprocessor,Qualcommhadbeeninthebusinessforquitesometime.TheirSnapdragonseriesprocessorsareusedinmillionsofmobiledevicesaroundtheworld.TheSnapdragonalsoappearsinflagshipsmartphones,providingtheprocessingpowerneededtobrowsetheInternet,accesscellularnetworksandtakestunningphotos.ItseemsthatApplegetsmoreattentionbecauseoftheirbranding,whileQualcommseemstobemorebehindthescenes.TheSnapdragon865SoCisQualcomm’sanswertowhatthecompanycalls“smarter,better,faster”processingformobiledevices.BeforetheM1fromApple,Qualcommwasalreadyproducingenergyefficientchipsusedinsmartphones.Applehadthesamethinginmindastheyplantobringfurtherverticalintegrationintotheirproducts.Unfortunately,QualcommdoesnothavetheirownlineofproductsinthemarketcomparedtoApple.Theneedsfordeliveringfasterdataspeeds,AIintegrationandsuperiorimagingiswhatisdrivingthemobileindustry.ChipsliketheAppleA14Bionic,Samsung’sExynosandHuawei’sKirinprocessorareallcompetingtobringthebestuserexperienceandperformanceinthemarket.Qualcommisperhapstheirbiggestcompetitorintermsofmarketshare.EvenSamsungusesQualcommproducts,liketheSnapdragon865intheirGalaxyS20flagship.SpecificationsFromAnandtech:CPU:[email protected]@[email protected]:Qualcomm®Kryo™585CPUGPU:Adreno650@587MHzMemoryspeed:2750MHzMemoryType:4x16bit,LPDDR5DSP/NPU:Hexagon698ISP/Camera:Dual14-bitSpectra480ISP1x200MP64MPZSLor2x25MPZSL4Kvideo&64MPburstcaptureManufacturingProcess:7nmTSMCFeaturesThe865is25%morepowerfulthantheprevious855model.TheperformanceisbeingaimedatimprovingAIprocessing,photographyandgamingapplications.AIisprimarilyusedforimagingandintelligentapplications.Enhancingphotographyisalsoanimportantpartofthedesign,ascamerasbecomemorecomputation-basedimageprocessing.PerhapsitisthegamingarenawhereQualcommwantstocapitalizeonasitisonethefastestgrowingindustriesintech.The865AIfeaturesincludethe5th-generationQualcommAIEngineandSensingHub.ItintegrateswellwithintelligentassistantslikeGoogleAssistantandAmazonAlexa.QualcommisprovidingdeveloperstobuildapplicationsontopofthisAIplatform.Thisallowssmartspeakerstogetabettercontextualawarenessandmoreaccuratevoicedetection.Onthegamingfront,the865willprovidesupportforsmartphoneswitha144Hzrefreshrate.Thisisinlinewithmobilegamingapplicationsthatrenderfastgraphics.ThataccelerationingraphicswillbeprovidedbytheAdreno650GPU.ThisbringsdesktoplevelgamingtosmartphonesthatruntheSnapdragon865processor.Thechipincorporates5GsupportontheSnapdragon865and865+asaseparatechipontheX55modem(external).Themainbenefithereisthemaximumdownloadspeedfordatacanreachupto7Gbps.ThatissignificantlyfasterthanWiFiacspeedsusedinmosthomesandcommercialsettings.Userscanstreamwithoutlagandrunmultipleapplicationswhichtheprocessorcanscale.The865and865+willsupportthefollowing5GSpectrumDynamicSpectrumSharing(DSS),mmWave(800MHzbandwidth,8carriers,2x2MIMO)andsub-6GHz(200MHzbandwidth,4x4MIMO).ItwillalsosupporttheWiFi6standardinadditionto5G.The865+Themorepremiumflagshipchipisthe865+.Itwillimproveuponthe865inthefollowingways:Clockspeedboostto3.1GHz,10%higherthanstandard865Adreno650GPU,10%fastergraphicsrenderingCompatibilitywithFastConnect6900connectivitysuite,supportingWiFispeedsupto3.6GbpsPerformanceIdon’thavebenchmarksavailabletosharebutperformance,asreportedbyAndroidAuthorityaregreatintermsofefficiency.Whiletheperformanceindicatorsaremarginal,itisstillsignificantintermsofthepowerefficiency.Theoverallboostfromthe865is25%tobothperformanceandefficiency.LikeotherARM-basedprocessors,ithasagreatperformanceperwattindicator.Thisisduetothesmallerefficiencycoresdesignedonthechip.Thisconsistsof4Cortex-A55coreswith128kbL2cachesand1.8GHzclockspeeds.Themoreefficientoperationofthechipleadstolongerlastingbatterylife.Asthechipbecomesavailableonthelatestsmartphones,itshallbeputtothetest.Agoodreasonformorepowersavingshastodowithlesschargingandbetterperformancewithlesspowerconsumption.PowerhungrychipsareathingofthepastwithRISC-basedinstructionsetprocessorsliketheSnapdragonprovidingmoreperformanceperwatt.ConclusionThe875isalreadyintheworksandtherearereportsthatithasanevenbetterperformancethanthe865and865+.Perhapswhatmostwouldwanttoseeisthemodemintegrationonthechipratherthanhavingtouseaseparateexternalmodemtogetfasterdataspeeds.WhilethetalkofthetownmaybeApple’sAserieschips,youcanneverunderestimateQualcommSnapdragon.TheyaremovinginthesamedirectionwithAI,gamingandadvancedphotographyandthisshouldresultinbetterproductoptionsforconsumersandbetteriterationstocome.0xMachinaEssaysandarticlesaboutinteractingwithmoderndevices…30GpuComputersSmartphonesTechnologyEngineering30 claps300xMachinaEssaysandarticlesaboutinteractingwithmoderndevicesandhowtheywork.WrittenbyVincentTaboraFollowEditorHD-PRO,DevOpsTrusterras(Cybersecurity,Blockchain,SoftwareDevelopment,Engineering,Photography,Technology)0xMachinaEssaysandarticlesaboutinteractingwithmoderndevicesandhowtheywork.MoreFromMediumRoofingIndustry:HowtoS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