Over the past week, Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon 898 microchip has been making news. We know something about its configuration and the smartphones that could be the first to boast this powerful chip. However, information about when it goes official has continued to remain a mystery. Now, it appears as if the processor would see the light of the day by end-November.
Qualcomm has officially announced the dates for its annual tech summit and there is every reason to believe that the new Snapdragon 898 processor will be the theme around which the three-day event, starting November 30, would revolve around.
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What's special about Snapdragon 898?
The Snapdragon 898 is the successor of the Snapdragon 888 processor, fabricated using Samsung's 4nm process over a smaller footprint which delivers superior processing power while consuming lower power. Given that battery performance is proving to be a major differentiator for mid-and-top range smartphones, the new chip could just prove to be what the doctor ordered.
We also know that the chip could be using a 1+3+4 architecture design with the large core being the Cortex X2 with a frequency of above 3.0GHz. The main frequencies of the other two core was reported to be 2.5GHz and 1.79GHz. The processor was also reported to have an Adreno 730 graphic card with all of the configuration supposed to deliver a 20 per cent higher performance than the Snapdragon 888 chipset.
Early tests could be misleading
A listing on Geekbench has already provided us with the chipset's core configuration, suggesting a Cortex X2 core clocking at 2.42Ghz. Similarly, the Cortex A710 core goes at 2.17GHz while the Cortex A510 clocks at 1.79GHz. This could be a bit of a let down though we belive the Snapdragon 898 sample was made to run below its potential. Why do we say so? Because earlier rumours had indicated that the Cortex X2 core could clock as high as 3.09GHz.
Given the robust configuration, the Geekbench listing did not make sense as scores were below those of the chipset that it sets out to replace. Qualcomm could have used an engineering sample of the microchip and the phone that it ran on may have had unstable firmware or been running on battery-saver mode to restrain the CPU.
For now, we would prefer not to give too much credence to these tests, given that we are sure of the Snapdragon 898 being the top-notch processor to beat when it comes to Android phones in 2022. Tipster Digital Chat Station (via Phandroid), claims that both Xiaomi and Motorola are battling it out to get the chip on their devices.
Which phones could get the new chip?
Based on the reports going around, the Xiaomi 12 could be the first from this line to sport the new processor. However, there are rumours about a Moto G200, thought that could still be running on the older Snapdragon 888. However, in the past, the company has announced refreshes to its G series devices in January. Then there is the Samsung Galaxy S22 series that is also expected to feature the Snapdragon 898 though these may arrive only by mid-2022.
Does it really matter to smartphone users though? Well, just so that readers get a better idea, the unofficial benchmarks did indicate a 20 per cent spike in the new microchip.
Leaked specs in in September had suggested the 4 nanometer processing from Samsung on the Snapdragon 898 which would guarantee better performance and a lower power consumption than the 5nm process that is being used for both the Snapdragon 888 and the Snapdragon 888 Plus.
Top put these numbers in context, it is worthwhile mentioning that Apple has had a major struggle to make 3nm chips, forcing it to stick with the 4nm options. Given the Android vs iOS battle for process efficiency, it makes sense for Qualcomm to at least match the power and efficiency of the Apple chip.
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