Qualcomm has finally revealed the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 after more than a year of teases and leaks and there’s no doubt that this is one of Qualcomm’s biggest launches yet.
Being one of the key SoCs empowering the push towards 5G, the Snapdragon 855 seems to be the first SoC to truly support the new frequency bands thanks to the new Snapdragon X50 5G modem and Qualcomm QTM052 mmWave antenna modules. Being a 5G-focused launch, Qualcomm had several carriers at its side who would be pushing the new envelope even further in several regions.
However, what’s worth noting is the fact that the Snapdragon 855 doesn’t seem to support 5G internally as slides reveal that the X50 Modem is, in fact, an external modem.
On the processing side of things, Qualcomm definitely seems to be making some incredible strides too as they continue to push AI performance even further. Qualcomm says that the new SoC announced today would feature an AI engine that’s three times as fast compared to previous generations along with incredible improvements to the gaming experience of Snapdragon 855-powered devices that they call “Snapdragon Elite Gaming”. Regarding other performance numbers, Qualcomm remained vague and continued to focus on 5G and the other features its set to bring to the table.
With two more days worth of keynotes, we’re expecting Qualcomm to reveal some more details regarding the new SoC, along with some additional details regarding the performance uplifts we could look forward to as it makes its way into devices next year.
In addition to that, Qualcomm also announced improved camera capabilities, 4K HDR recording and the addition of a 3D Sonic Sensor that would completely push the whole “under-display” fingerprint sensor game to the next level with “unprecedented” accuracy and speed compared to what manufacturers have done in the past.
However, if this does seem vague, these improvements would enable things like object tracking, better AR capabilities and a whole lot more as we continue to process the transition into AI and AR.
The mention of Qualcomm’s next-gen Snapdragon 855 first made its appearance back in March, this year in a presentation. The presentation came from a Softbank where they had announced back then the expansion and preparation of 5G along with a mention of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 along the lines.
Further reports came in a few months ago where rumors suggested that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 has been in mass production for a few months back then and had been making its way to major OEMs throughout the globe.
There’s a ton of news that continues to excite us as Qualcomm heads into the second day of its keynote.