New features in sight for the Qualcomm chip range: the Snapdragon 888 is retiring, in its place the Snapdragon 888 Plus which is even more powerful
The most widely used chip for top-of-the-line smartphones is updated to face the second half of the year in the best possible way, and changes its name slightly: from Snapdragon 888 to Snapdragon 888 Plus the step is short, but in some usage scenarios the difference might not be so subtle.
The updated design of the world leader Qualcomm we will soon see it on high-end Android smartphones that will arrive in the second part of 2022, strong with a chip that intervenes more vigorously on those few, indeed very few, compromises that could have the powerful American chip that has equipped smartphones from Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, OnePlus, Asus and company. The announcement came in the context of the Mobile World Congress 2021 being held in Barcelona, where Qualcomm made the news by outlining the major points of interest of the Snapdragon 888 Plus architecture. And rumors also arrive as to what will be the first top-of-the-line smartphone and
The Snapdragon 888 Plus improvements
The improvements introduced by Qualcomm on Snapdragon 888 Plus are not substantial but concern numerous aspects, some fundamental for the historical period. Such as the enhancement of the units dedicated to artificial intelligence, on which manufacturers from year to year, indeed from semester to semester, rely more and more.
The AI Engine of Snapdragon 888 Plus, Qualcomm's "engine" for artificial intelligence, goes from 26 TOPS AI of the current chip to 32 TOPS AI of Snapdragon 888 Plus, an increase of 23% that certainly can not go unnoticed. And that can't be explained by the increase in CPU clock frequency alone, which went from the 2.84 GHz achievable by the Cortex-X1 architecture-based Kryo 680 Prime core to the 2.995 GHz of the same core in the Snapdragon 888 Plus, which Qualcomm for commercial reasons has rounded up to 3 GHz.
The increase in terms of AI processing, which is the result of the combined performance of CPU, GPU, DSP and NPU Hexagon (always Hexagon 780), is difficult to explain with only the growth of the CPU clock frequency, so it is likely that Qualcomm in the explanation of the news of Snapdragon 888 Plus has kept something for itself, also in light of the fact that the GPU Adreno 680 of the new American chip has the same clock frequency (840 MHz) of the product of which it collects the baton.
In gaming so there should be no difference with what we've seen so far with the current chip at the top of the range, a sign that at the time the company had already taken the most out of the GPU. The remaining technical features of Snapdragon 888 Plus, according to what Qualcomm said at MWC 2021, remain identical to the current high-end chip.
Snapdragon 888 Plus soon on Honor Magic 3
Either way we should see the new Snapdragon 888 Plus in action soon. Honor has rushed to announce its use, fresh from the newfound ability to talk to the US leader after the US ban on Huawei made people fear the worst.
Honor extricated itself from the restrictions by switching hands, and is now ready to relaunch itself by putting the Snapdragon 888 Plus inside the Honor Magic 3. "The revolutionary advancements we see in the new Snapdragon 888 Plus mobile platform make it perfect for Honor's upcoming Magic3 series flagship," said an executive at the Chinese company.