Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 will significantly improve smartphones in 2021
Qualcomm has unveiled the Snapdragon 888-soc. Many high-end smartphones will use this processor in 2021. The chip has built-in 5G, offers better graphics performance and is very suitable for artificial intelligence.
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Qualcomm presents Snapdragon 888: you should know this
Qualcomm has announced its latest high-end chip for smartphones at the annual Snapdragon Tech Summit. It is not called Snapdragon 875, as was generally believed, but Snapdragon 888. Manufacturers such as Sony, OnePlus, LG and Xiaomi will use this processor for their fastest phones next year.
During the presentation, Qualcomm put a lot of emphasis on connectivity. The Snapdragon 888 features a built-in 5G modem that supports both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G. With mmWave you can download very quickly, while sub-6GHz is suitable for rural areas with few cell towers. The iPhone 12 series, for example, only has the slower sub-6GHz 5G in the Netherlands. Incidentally, fast downloading with 5G is only possible from 2022.
Qualcomm’s previous flagship Snapdragon 865 didn’t have a built-in 5G modem yet. Smartphone makers could add one separately, but that took up extra space and did not benefit the battery life. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 is a big step forward in this area.
Better graphics and more AI capabilities
Qualcomm says little about the computing power of the Snapdragon 888. The chip does offer better graphics performance than before. The “Elite Gaming Adreno-gpu” makes it possible to play games at up to 144 frames per second. Images then look very smooth. By the way, you do need a phone with a 144Hz screen for that. The ASUS ROG Phone 3 is currently one of the few smartphones with such a display.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 also makes a big leap in the field of artificial intelligence. The new Hexagon processor, charged with AI tasks, is much faster than its predecessor and is more energy efficient.
Lightning-fast image processing for photos and videos
The Snapdragon 888 also has a new Spectra ISP, which is responsible for the processing of photos and videos. It is 35% faster than its predecessor and stows no less than 2.7 gigapixels per second. To make it a bit more concrete: that means that the Snapdragon 888 can process 120 photos of 12 megapixels every count.
Qualcomm often releases the details of its chips in stages. In the coming days, during the sequel to the Snapdragon Tech Summit, we will probably hear more about the Snapdragon 888.
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