Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 865 Plus 5G platform on Wednesday, which is a mid-year update to the Snapdragon 865 5G platform, announced at Snapdragon Summit late last year, and brings minor performance improvements alongside better connectivity features.
Due to frequent hardware updates the improvement consumers stand to gain with each iteration decreases, proven by devices like OnePlus 7 Pro and 7T Pro which feature the Snapdragon 855 and 855+ and are still relevant in 2020.
Devices based on Snapdragon 865 Plus are set to become available in the third quarter of 2020 with Asus ROG Phone 3 expected to lead the pack — a Legion branded mobile from Lenovo will also feature this chipset — whereas the 865 is available on every flagship phone unveiled in 2020.
The notable differences between the Snapdragon 855 and 855+ were in terms of clock speeds for the CPU and GPU. Similarly, the CPU and GPU in the 865+ 5G sees a 10 percent improvement in performance over its predecessor alongside the new FastConnect 6900 modem which brings WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5,2.
Also read: Snapdragon 865 5G vs 855+ vs 855: 4 talking points
Connectivity
Qualcomm’s 5G-only approach saw the exclusion of an integrated modem on the Snapdragon 865 SoC. This change initiated a widespread adoption of 5G technology at the flagship level. The 865+ sees no change to this leaving modem integration for future releases.
On the other hand, devices featuring the Snapdragon 855 or 855+ come with an integrated X24 LTE modem with 5G being an additional feature provided by add-on X50 or X55 modems.
The X55 5G modem provides access to 5G download speeds of up to 7Gbps and LTE speeds, which peak at 2.5Gbps for downloads and 316Mbps for uploads. The X24 LTE modem provides peak speeds of 2Gbps and 316Mbps for downloads and uploads respectively.
The FastConnect 6900 modem‘s WiFi 6E capability allows devices with the 865+ to access WiFi speeds of up to 3.6Gbps. The integrated Bluetooth 5.2 alongwith the new Qualcomm aptX audio features hopes to improve the experience with audio devices using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
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Performance
Each of these chips features similar cluster designs, but the 865 series maintains an advantage due to its A77 Cortex architecture, which can offer better performance at lower clock speeds.
To quantify the improvements, the new Kyro 585 in 865+ is 10 percent better than the Kyro 585 in its predecessor. Whereas the Kyro 585 from the Snapdragon 865 is 25 percent faster than the Kyro 485 in Snapdragon 855 (not the improved Kyro 485 in the 855+).
The Adreno 650 GPU also sees ten percent faster graphics rendering compared to its predecessor. The Adreno in the 865 featured 25 percent better graphics performance when compared to the Adreno 640.
Also read: How much RAM do you need in 2020?
Camera
The camera improvements made with the Snapdragon 865 were a highlight last year. With the SD865+ these features remain unchanged.
The 865 series can shoot 200MP images, record 8K footage at 30FPS and utilise Dolby Vision codec. The 855 series, on the other hand, can shoot 192MP images but record 4K footage at 60FPS. Slow-motion videos at a resolution of 720P can be captured at 960FPS on the 865 series while the 855 can manage 480FPS.
Category | Snapdragon 865 5G Plus | Snapdragon 865 5G | Snapdragon 855 Plus | Snapdragon 855 |
---|---|---|---|---|
CPU | Kyro 585 Upto 3.1Ghz | Kyro 585 Upto 2.84Ghz | Kryo 485 Upto 2.96GHz, | Kryo 485 Upto 2.84GHz, |
GPU | Adreno 650 (10% better performance compared to 865 5G) | Adreno 650 | Adreno 640 (improved performance compared to 855) | Adreno 640 |
Connectivity | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X55 5G modem-RF system FastConnect 6900 | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X55 5G modem-RF system FastConnect 6800 | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X24 LTE modem FastConnect 6200 | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X24 LTE modem FastConnect 6200 |
Camera | Qualcomm Spectra™ 480 image signal processor, allows for sensors upto 200MP to be implemented | Qualcomm Spectra™ 480 image signal processor, allows for sensors upto 200MP to be implemented | Qualcomm Spectra™ 380 image signal processor, allows for sensors upto 192MP to be implemented | Qualcomm Spectra™ 380 image signal processor, allows for sensors upto 192MP to be implemented |
Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.2 | Bluetooth 5.1 | Bluetooth 5.0 | Bluetooth 5.0 |
WiFi Standard | WiFi 6 with 6E support | WiFi 6 | WiFi 6 capable | WiFi 6 capable |
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