Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 870, its new processor for the high-end 2021. The chipset replaces the Snapdragon 865 Plus, which was introduced in the middle of last year. The focus is clear: this is the processor that will be on the most powerful cell phones that are not flagships. In other words, the most advanced high-end mobiles, but not those that seek to reach the price levels reserved for the most complete flagships.
This is a chipset manufactured in 7 nanometers FinFET, with eight cores up to 3.2 GHz and with the corresponding compatibility with 5G, WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.2. Following the nomenclature of some mobiles, this new processor could well have been called a “Snapdragon 888 Lite”. This is what it offers.
Snapdragon 870 Datasheet
| Snapdragon 870 | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 7 nanometer FinFET |
| CPU | 8 cores: 1 x Cortex-A77 at 3.2GHz 3 x Cortex-A77 at 2.4GHz 4 x Cortex A55 at 1.8GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 650 OpenGL 3.2 OpenCL 2.0 FP Vulkan 1.1 DirectX 12 |
| Memory | Up to 16GB LPDDR5 at 2.75GHz |
| Connectivity | 5G SA / NSA Modem X55 MIMO 4X4 up to 7.5Gbps / 3Gbps WiFi 6 (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.2 Bluetooth aptX Support for NFC GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC and SBAS |
| Artificial intelligence | Hexagon 698 |
| Photography and video | Qualcomm Spectra 480 Up to 200 megapixels Up to 25 dual megapixels 8K video at 30fps 4K HDR video at 120fps |
| Security | Fingerprint reading Iris recognition Face recognition Voice recognition Qualcomm Mobile Secutiry |
| Displays | 4K at 60Hz / QHD + at 144Hz HDR10 and HDR10 + Rec. 2020 10-bit color depth |
| Fast charge | Quick Charge 4+ |
The affordable flagship processor
Compared to the Snapdragon 865+, we have a 100 MHz faster processor that reaches 3.2 GHz at its most powerful core. This is an octa-core manufactured in 7 nanometers FinFET.
Inside is an Adreno 650 GPU, a Snapdragon X55 5G external modem with mmWave and sub-6GHz support, and compatibility with 4K 60Hz or QuadHD+ 144 Hz displays.
While Qualcomm’s most advanced processor is built in the 5-nanometer range and supports the new Quick Charge 5, this Snapdragon 870 remains in Quick Charge 4+.
This is a high-end feature with a good level of maximum speed and a GPU capable of rendering the world’s most demanding Android games. At the connectivity level, the Snapdragon 870 comes with WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, although it does not support WiFi 6E.
Another change from Qualcomm’s more powerful processor is the image signal processor (ISP). In this case, they opt for a Hexagon 698 along with the Spectra 480, capable of supporting cameras of up to 200 MP and with support for recording 8K video at 30 fps.
The first mobiles with the Snapdragon 870 will arrive during the first quarter of 2021, so it won’t be long before we see it in action. Among the models planned are the new high-end models from Xiaomi, iQOO, OPPO, OnePlus, or Motorola.
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