The top-of-the-line smartphones of 2021 will be able to count on a really powerful processor: the first tests on Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 surprise
In December, the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 processor will arrive on the market and will equip the top-of-the-line smartphones of 2021. The results of the first tests carried out by AnTuTu on the new chip are surprising: it will be much faster than expected and will exceed the levels reached by the Snapdragon 865+.
In just a year, Qualcomm would have managed to increase the power of its CPU for top-of-the-line smartphones by 25%. The Snapdragon 875 chip achieves a score of over 874,000 on AnTuTu, beating out even Apple's brand new A14 Bionic that stops at 660,000, Huawei's HiSilicon Kirin 9000 and Samsung's Exynos 1080 that stop just above 690,000 points. The first to grab the new chip could be Xiaomi's top-of-the-line smartphones, for the Mi 11 series whose name is yet to be defined, and the version for the U.S. market of the Galaxy S21 series coming next year.
Snapdragon 875, test results
The benchmark site AnTuTu has analyzed the results on the first tests of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 CPU, destined to be mounted on top-of-the-line smartphones of 2021. The test showed unprecedented power, with a result of 847,868 points, much higher than the 663,000 points recorded by the previous top-of-the-line Snapdragon 865+ processor.
According to recent rumors, the Snapdragon 875 will mark the transition from 5nm to 7nm technology, but it's still unclear whether the X60 modem that supports the 5G connectivity standard, both sub-6 GHz and mmWave, will be integrated.
The increase in power in one year is 25 percent over Qualcomm's predecessor, but we'll have to wait and see it in action to determine if this increase will translate into an unprecedented user experience. Benchmark test numbers, in fact, may be higher but users may not appreciate the differences in the daily use of devices equipped with this chip.
Snapdragon 875, the competition
The new Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 would be ready to beat even the competition. With its 847,868 points, it also wins over the long-awaited processor, just launched on the market by Apple, A14 Bionic, which equips iPhone 12 and managed to score only 660,000 points on AnTuTu.
Huawei's HiSilicon Kirin 9000 processor and Samsung's new Exynos 1080 instead stop in benchmark tests at 696.000 and 693,000 points. If these scores are confirmed, the new Snapdragon is bound to attract attention and impose itself in the market of top-of-the-line smartphones 2021.
Snapdragon 875, when it arrives and for which smartphones
Unusually Qualcomm presents its new top-of-the-line SoCs in December. The company's usual Tech Summit will be held on December 1 and 2, and that's when the new Snapdragon 875 could be unveiled. In the press invitations for the Tech Summit, Qualcomm speaks of "premium mobile performance", but neither confirms nor denies that it could be the long-awaited CPU.
In the meantime, smartphone companies are already working to get the new chip for their top of the range devices. In the front row there would be the Chinese Xiaomi, which would have thought of the Snapdragon 875 to equip its successor smartphones of the Mi 10 series. Even Samsung aims at the chip, but only for the Galaxy S21 coming out on the U.S. market. At least for the first half of 2021, however, LG does not seem interested in using the new chip: the company would aim at the mid-range of the market, investing more resources on foldable and roll-up smartphones.