Is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 a Step Backward for ...

The fact that the Snapdragon 865 is a dual-chip part does raise concerns about the overall impact on power consumption, but Qualcomm is ... Home Mobile IsQualcomm’sSnapdragon865aStepBackwardforSmartphones? Thissitemayearnaffiliatecommissionsfromthelinksonthispage.Termsofuse. TheQualcommSnapdragon865SoCisatwo-chipaffairwithoutanintegratedmodem,andQualcommisn’tgoingtoallowhandsetmanufacturerstousetheSoCunlesstheysellitina5Gconfiguration.ThishassparkedsomecriticismofQualcommandhowit’spushing5Gforwardin2020.Qualcommhashadarough2019—thecompanywasfoundtohaveabuseditsmarketpowerinafederalcourtdecisionearlierthisyear(Qualcommhasappealedthatruling).AtArsTechnica,RonAmadeoarguesthattheSnapdragon865isademonstrablestepbackwardforsmartphonedesignforanumberofreasons,includingtheaforementionedlackofanintegratedmodem.He rightlypointsoutthatexisting5Ghardwareoverheatsifambienttemperaturesexceed85F,thefirstwaveofhandsetsoffersmiserableperformance,andthat5GasaserviceisbarelyavailableintheUnitedStatesatall.It’salsotruethatthefewdevicestooffer5GservicethisyearweresignificantlylargerthantheLTEhardware,andthatthelasttimeQualcommtriedtosnap-pushamajorstandard(64-bitARMv8support),whatwegotwastheSnapdragon810,anSoCprettymuchnobodyliked.TheseareallfairandaccuratepointsandI’vearguedinfavorofallofthemhereatET,savefortheideaofaconnectionbetweenSnapdragon865andtheill-fatedSnapdragon810.ButI’mnotsureallofthesetrendscanbelaidsolelyatQualcomm’sdoor.AT&T,T-Mobile,andVerizonhaveallbeenspendingagreatdealofmoneyon5Gdeployments(and,inAT&T’scase,blatantlyfalseadvertising).Thecarriersarepushingfor5Gservicetorolloutondevices.OEMs,similarly,want5Gphones,includingApple.Applefeltitwasimportantenoughtohave5Ginitsdevicesthatitdidn’tjustbuyIntel’smodembusiness—itexplicitlysettledahugesetoflawsuitswithQualcommtomakecertainitwouldbeabletoshipa5Gdevicenextyear.5G,inotherwords,isn’tjustatechnologythatQualcommwantstoship.It’satechnologicalcapabilitythatQualcomm’spartnercompanieswanttobesellingandpromoting.Qualcommisresponsibleforchoosingnottosellthe865withanintegratedLTEmodem,butitmayhavemadethatchoicebecauseOEMsweren’tinterestedinsplittingtheirhigh-endproductsintoLTEversus5Gbucketsanylongerthanabsolutelynecessary.Amadeoarguesthatthisintegrationcoulddrivehigherpricesandhemightberightaboutthat—butifOEMsarelookingtopushtheenvelopeonhigh-endhandsets,eventhismaybeafeatureratherthanabug.Noneofthismakes5Gagooddealrightnowforyou,theconsumer.T-Mobilecustomerswhocanuseitssub-6GHz5Gservicecanpickupamodestperformancebumptoday,withmoreservicerollingoutin2020.Thoseofyouwholiveindenseurbanenvironmentsmightpickupsome5GmmWavebenefitsassoonas2020,atleastwhiledowntown.Therealisticwindowfor5Gtostartmatteringformostpeopleisprobably2022–2023.Dependingonwhereyoulive,youmaynotnoticemuchwhenyougetit.ButQualcommisn’ttheonlycompanydriving5Gintothemarketplace—notbyalongshot.WhatAbouttheSnapdragon865,Specifically?ThefactthattheSnapdragon865isadual-chippartdoesraiseconcernsabouttheoverallimpactonpowerconsumption,butQualcommisspecificallysayingthey’vechangedaspectsofthe865designtoaddressthis.Thereasonsfornotintegratinga5Gmodemintothisproductcyclerelatetothedifficultyofbuildingafull-featuredmodemtosupporteverysingletypeof5Gnetworkcurrentlybeingdeployedandtheleadtimesassociatedwithbringingupnewmodems.WhileQualcommdidintegratea5Gmodemintothelower-endSnapdragon765,theX52,it’snotasfastastheX55modemQualcommisincludingwiththeSnapdragon865.TheX52hasamaximumdownloadspeedof3.7Gbpswith1.6Gbitupload,whiletheX55canmaintainupto7.5Gbpsdownloadwitha3Gbpspeakupload.Wedon’tknowyetwhatthepracticaldifferenceswillbe,butit’spossiblethattheX55willturnouttobeabetteroveralldevicefortheearly5GnetworkstheUnitedStateshastoofferin2020.Thatdoesn’tmake5Gagooddealasanear-terminvestment,butitmaymaketheX55modemthebestbaddealif5Gserviceiswhatyouwant.Ultimately,I’mnotasconvincedasRonthattheSnapdragon865willbeabadpart.It’sabsolutelytruethat5Ghasmadeabadfirstimpressionforahostofreasons,buttheoriginalLTEphonesweredownrightterrible,andLTEtodayisamust-havefeature.I’mdubiousthatmmWave5Gwillhit“must-have”statusinthenext3-5years,but5Gdeploymentsbelow6GHzspectrumcouldstilldelivermodestimprovementsforcustomers.Ifintegrating5Gleadstosignificantlymoreexpensiveandlargerdevicesthatconsumersareunwillingtopayfor,Samsung,Apple,MediaTek,Qualcomm,andthecarriersthemselveswillhavetocollectivelydealwiththatproblem.Ifpowerconsumptionandheatareissues,additionalnodeshrinksandfurtherimprovementstopackaging,antennaplacement,SoCinterconnects,anddevicepanelpowerconsumptionmightbeneededtobringhandsetbatterylifebackuptowhereconsumersexpectittobe.It’sentirelypossible—I’dgosofarastosayit’slikely—thatit’lltakeagenerationortwofor5Gtoreally,cleanlydifferentiateitself.Butthat’sanissueasmuchonthecarriersasitisonQualcomm.Ithinkit’sbettertowaitandseeontheSnapdragon865ratherthanpreemptivelydeclaringthatit’sgoingtobeaphonewrecker,andthatthemarketingbonanzaaround5Gisbeingdrivenbyalotofcompanies.Qualcommisn’ttheonlycompanypushinga5G-heavynarrative,andwhileit’sbeenfoundguiltyofabusingmonopolypower,itstillhastoanswerthedemandsofitsowncustomers,whoverymuchwanttobedeploying5G.There’snoshortageofblametogoaroundasfarassourcesforbad5Garguments.ButsinceI’venoparticularqualmaboutpredictions,I’llmakeoneofmyown.IsuspecttheSnapdragon865willbeanimprovementoverthe5Gdeviceswegotlastyear(nodifficulty)butprobablywillhavesomeissuesrelatedtothecostof5Gsupport.Batterylifemaystillbeslightlylower.Theimpactofactuallyusing5Gmaybehigh,andit’spossiblesomedeviceswon’tbeabletomaintain5Gconnectionsundersustainedheavyloadandhighexternaltemperature.IthinkSamsung,Apple,andotherOEMsmayhavetofindpowersavingselsewhereintheirdevicestocompensateforthemodem,butIsuspectthey’llfindwaystooffsetatleastsomeoftheincrease.OEMswanttosellyouon5Gevenifyoudon’tneedit,butthey’reconsciousofthefactthatpeoplewon’twantthefeatureifitmakesusingthedevicesignificantlyworseinotherrespects.Thegoalwillbetominimizetheimpactof5Gsupportwhenyouaren’tusingit,thebettertowowyouwithitwhenthefeatureisavailable.It’spossiblethattheSnapdragon865mayfailatthis,andthatthedevicesthatuseitwillbemarkedlyworsethanprevious-generationLTEproductsinmultiplerespects,butIwanttowaitandseehardwarebeforeImakethatcall.Thepotentialnegativesofusinganoff-diemodemcanbebalancedbyimprovementsinothermetrics,andwe should seeimprovementscomparedwithprevioushardware.Ifwedon’t,youcanbetI’llhavesomethingtosayaboutit.Oh.And5Gstilldoesn’tcausecancer.NowRead:VerizonPostsDepressinglySkimpy5GCoverageMapsQualcommAnnouncesSnapdragon865and765ChipsWith5GModemsQualcomm’sSnapdragon865PromisesBigImprovementsinCameras,Gaming,andMore TaggedIn mobileinternetqualcommlteAT&Tverizon5gt-mobilephonesSprintsnapdragon 855snapdragon 865 Thissitemayearnaffiliatecommissionsfromthelinksonthispage.Termsofuse. 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