Qualcomm has always had a confusing naming scheme for its processors and today it is adding to this confusion with the launch of the Snapdragon 870. It represents a kind of new category for a company, being one step below the best and latest of the company, is still an upgrade over the previous year’s flagship.
The Snapdragon 888 is the company’s current flagship. It was announced in December and will be the processor found on most of the best performing Android phones this year, such as the Galaxy S21. It has 25% faster CPU performance and 35% faster GPU performance than last year’s Snapdragon 865 (and slightly less on the marginally improved 865 Plus). It is the biggest increase in the company’s performance year on year since 835 2017.
Typically, the company has a large number of intermediate and budget processors to fill the rest of its line. Its performance meets a variety of price levels, but Qualcomm never offered a processor that could outperform the previous year’s flagship, although it was still better than the current year’s flagship. The Snapdragon 765G on the Pixel 5, for example, was Qualcomm’s second-tier processor for 2020, but its gross CPU performance was closer to the 845 of 2018.
The Snapdragon 870 is then in a new category, bringing a 10 percent increase in CPU and GPU over the 865, although it is still slower and, presumably, cheaper than the 888. In fact, the processor is based on the architecture 7nm from 865 instead of 888 5nm technology, so it looks like the company has managed to extract a little more performance from the older technology. In fact, the only notable differences between the 865 and 870 spec sheets are in the CPU and GPU clock speeds.
Of course, the chip also supports 5G, although companies have to opt for a 5G modem separately, instead of being integrated into the SoC as in the 888.
We still don’t know the exact devices that will have the processor, but Qualcomm highlighted Motorola, iQOO, OnePlus, Oppo and Xiaomi as companies that will present the chip in the next devices.
It is a sensible move by Qualcomm. I found that with each new generation of phones, I care less about having the most powerful processor available and more about performing well enough with decent software optimization. The aforementioned Pixel 5, for example, looks as fast as any flagship with a better processor that I used for all but the most demanding activities. During regular use, I forget that I am using a processor that is a few years behind.
Still, I wouldn’t mind a little more performance, and I suspect the 870 will occupy a good place for people who want an upgrade over last year’s devices without having to pay high prices.
Did you know that we have a consumer technology newsletter? It’s called Plugged In – and you can sign it right here.
Published on January 19, 2021 – 18:08 UTC