After confirming its new Snapdragon 888 yesterday, Qualcomm is now spilling the details on the performance and features of its new flagship mobile processor.
The Snapdragon 888 includes a new Kryo 680 CPU that can be clocked up to 2.84GHz. Qualcomm touts that the Kryo 680 offers up to 25 percent faster performance compared to last year's Snapdragon 865.
The GPU in the new Snapdragon 888 is improved, too. It's an Andreno 660 GPU that can deliver up to 35 percent faster performance than last year's model, which Qualcomm says is its biggest increase in GPU performance yet.
Both the Kryo 680 and Adreno 660 offer better power efficiency as well, improving 25 percent and 20 percent, respectively, compared to last year's models.
Another major feature of the Snapdragon 888 is its integrated 5G modem. This is the first time that a Snapdragon 800-series chip will have a 5G modem integrated into the SoC, which will help lead to power and space savings. The 5G modem integrated into the Snapdragon 888 is the Snapdragon X60, which offers global compatibility and support for mmWave and sub-6GHz bands as well as 5G carrier aggregation, standalone and non-standalone, and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing.
Qualcomm is touting big camera improvements with the Snapdragon 888 and its Spectra 580 ISP. It's the first Snapdragon with a Triple Image Signal Processor which can capture from three cameras simultaneously, enabling you to record three 4K HDR videos or capture three 28MP images at the same time. The Spectra 580 ISP also brings a new low light architecture for brighter photos in low light situations.
The Snapdragon 888 has a focus on AI, too, with a sixth generation AI engine that can help improve cameras, gaming, and voice assistants. And the Qualcomm Sensing Hub includes a dedicated low-power AI processor to help with tasks like raise-to-wake and audio detection.
Overall the Snapdragon 888 looks like a big improvement that'll offer better performance and power efficiency. And the good news is that we won't have to wait long to see exactly what the Snapdragon 888 can do in a real device, because Qualcomm says that products powered by its new SD888 will be available starting in the first quarter of 2021.
