Snapdragon 855 and the promise of good news on 2019 smartphones

The mobile device market has been weak in recent years. The high-end smartphones of 2016 have been hardware enhancements, design adaptations and the addition of camera sensors.

This is about to change in 2019. At least according to what Qualcomm showed us about Snapdragon Tech Summit 2018, which is taking place in Hawaii and for which TodoCelular was invited. The new opportunities offered by the company's latest high-end platform are encouraging the launch of next year.

We will then expose the news that await us in the main versions of the coming year, including the 5G and new way to unlock a smartphone

Qualcomm is not kidding. The Snapdragon 855 promises to be powerful enough. The platform can be up to three times more powerful than its predecessor and about twice as powerful as its competitor.

Being more specific, we can improve the processing (CPU) up to 45% and the graphics rendering (GPU) up to 20% compared to Snapdragon 845. Compared to the energy efficiency, the new platform can offer up to seven times more autonomy to watch videos on YouTube in HDR

It's good to remember that a chipset is not just about the processor and the graphics chip, it goes a lot further. Qualcomm explained that Snapdragon 855 has a new architecture, with improved organization of cores and other components. That's why, in addition to being more powerful, the platform is also more efficient. This chip is already manufactured with the new 7 nm process.

Another improvement in this efficiency lies in the fact that it can maintain maximum treatment longer without constraint, which means you can play longer without loss of performance.

Performance improvements have been observed year after year since 2016, but this has not really translated into new features. And that's what's about to change in 2019. Qualcomm has also touched on some of the new features that smartphones can take advantage of.

Improvements were made to the game, to the optimization of performances, from development to graphics. more powerful and increased immersion. And it will also be possible to play HDR videos up to 120 frames per second, as well as mixed content content with 8K resolution at 360 degrees.

The camera also has information. For those who like to capture videos, it will be possible to take advantage of Portrait 4K mode. And in real time, no image processing is performed later.

Another change is the inclusion of a dedicated image capture center, which is expected to reduce energy consumption by up to four times when recording video.

end, artificial intelligence. The Snapdragon 855 also has a core dedicated to AI and should use machine learning and other more complex functions, with performances up to three times higher than those of the competitor. – perhaps the Kirin 980.

the most anticipated is the 5G. Apparently, the Snapdragon 855 will have two variants, one with a 4G modem and the other with a modem allowing the use of 5G networks, which should be activated in the United States next year. For us Brazilians, it should take a little longer, maybe in 2020, but probably even later.

If you have not yet figured out the benefits of 5G, it's an even faster mobile network that goes beyond that. The big question is the low latency, that is the communication time of the device with the network.

You have noticed that sometimes you shoot an opponent. Suddenly he jumps five feet to your right and unloads. bullets in your character? This is a latency, a communication delay between your device and the server.

Whatever the case may be, the next generation of mobile connectivity is one of the flagship events of the Hawaii event, with US operators demonstrating the possibilities offered by 5G. And some manufacturers took the time to present their solutions. Motorola took the Moto Z3 with the special snap, and Samsung also has a mysterious prototype that connects to this fastest and slowest latency network – but from that second, we have not could bring us much closer. which the platform will connect to.

Qualcomm also introduced a new 3D ultrasonic fingerprint reader to the screen. This is not a component of the Snapdragon 855, but rather a separate sensor. And it differs from the one used by companies that already offered smartphones with a digital unlock on the screen, precisely depending on the type of reading.

Live, OPPO, OnePlus, Xiaomi and Huawei use optical scanning. The Qualcomm sensor is ultrasonic and three-dimensional and promises to properly read your digital device, even if your finger is dirty or wet. Because it reads both the pattern of your fingers and evaluates the depth of these marks.

It remains to be determined whether playback will be limited to a specific point on the screen or whether recognition will be performed anywhere on the screen.

One small translation error caused everyone, including OnePlus, to say that the Chinese would be the first to launch a smartphone with Snapdragon 855. This information was however corrected on Thursday.

Surprisingly, Xiaomi announced a device with this platform, already this Thursday, a day after Qualcomm officialises the new chipset. Mi MIX 3 will win an updated version with the Snapdragon 855, depending on the manufacturer of the device itself. And the 5G is also compatible.

The next is the Samsung Galaxy S10. But we can not rule out another Chinese surprise in these two months separating us from the next South Korean flagship. And of course, if everything goes well at MWC

After a few busy years in the category of elite smartphones, it seems that 2019 is sufficiently promising. Of course, every manufacturer should also bring new proposals going beyond the responsibilities of the chipset, which makes us even more worried about next year's releases. Do you agree? Tell us here in the comments.