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Snapdragon 855: 8 cores, 7nm, WiFi 6, 5G, 4K, USB3.1 and 2gbps

28.2.2019

Translation: machine translated

Qualcomm's latest system-on-a-chip, the Snapdragon 855, finally brings 5G to mobile devices. A look at the circuit boards that turn your smartphone into a technological marvel.

The Snapdragon 855 is here. It's more exciting than any smartphone, be it Apple or Android. Because nothing works without the system-on-a-chip (SoC). Since Qualcomm's Snapdragons are setting the standard for SoCs this year, scene watchers are keen on two things:

The data sheet
Performance reviews

The first thing is pretty quickly covered - we'll get to it in a moment - and the second is where my job gets interesting. Because the SoC market is highly competitive. There are four SoCs in the ring on the Android market:

Qualcomm with its Snapdragon platform
Samsung with the Exynos SoC
Mediatek with the Helio
HiSilicon with the Kirin SoC

The Exynos is intended for the first edition of the Galaxy S series. Snapdragon Galaxy S smartphones will follow from summer. Mediatek's Helio will be used in cheaper smartphones, the Kirins will only be installed in Huawei and Honor phones and the Snapdragon shows what the technology is capable of. So let's take a look at a platform that is setting new standards. This year really. Oh, and there are sexy phones like this one with the Snapdragon 855.

A collection of interfaces

Nothing runs on your smartphone without a system-on-a-chip. For this statement to make sense, we need to quickly break down the structure of a smartphone to its simplest elements.

Case
Screen
Camera, microphone and other peripherals
Battery
System-on-a-chip (SoC)

The SoC connects all the parts, provides interfaces so that everything can communicate with everything else and contains the graphics card, sound card, processor and interfaces for image and sound. So a smartphone manufacturer goes and attaches a screen to the SoC, plugs in a camera, a microphone and speakers, attaches a battery and packs it all into a housing. Then they add some software and that's it. It may sound a little simpler than it is in reality, but that's essentially how it works.

So the Snapdragons are the SoCs that set the standard when it comes to connecting everything in your smartphone. The premium Snapdragons currently have three-digit numbers starting with the number 8. The latest iteration is the Snapdragon 855.

The Sony XPeria 1 comes with 4K. Only possible thanks to improved SoC
Source: sony.com

In addition, the 855 finally brings the long-awaited and hotly debated 5G mobile communications standard. It enables data transfer rates of 1Gbps and more. In comparison: 4G lags far behind with 150Mbps. In order to utilise 5G, however, the mobile network operators need to follow suit and build a corresponding infrastructure. This should happen in Switzerland before the end of 2019.

The only thing Qualcomm seems to have saved on is the processor. The predecessor, Snapdragon 845, delivered up to 2.8 GHz on eight processor cores with the Qualcomm Kryo 385. The successor Kryo 485 is installed on the 855 SoC. Performance: up to 2.84 GHz on eight cores. This may be due to the fact that the Snapdragon has a completely different structure. While the 845 is still based entirely on 10nm technology, the new platform is based on 7nm, which means that the SoC is smaller. As a result, it requires less power and its performance is many times better, which at least theoretically opens up new and efficient possibilities in terms of artificial intelligence (AI) and things like extended reality (XR).

Better pictures, better video, better everything

Leaving the ultra-earthly aside for a moment, the new Snapdragon also offers everyday improvements. Thanks to QuickCharge 4+, your mobile charges even faster. In addition, the graphics chip, the Qualcomm Adreno 640, can deliver up to 4K images on displays.

Sony is already capitalising on this and is venturing onto the market with the Sony Xperia 1. According to the 4K specs and marketing material, the device has a screen aspect ratio of 21:9, which is not entirely true. Because 4K is a standard that has been defined as a screen resolution of 2160x3840 pixels. If we shorten this, we end up with a screen ratio of 16:9. At 21:9, the XPeria 1 delivers 1644x3840 pixels. Close, but still impressive. It should be available from summer.

Additionally pimped by the manufacturer: The Nokia 9 Pureview still runs on the 845 Snapdragon
Source: Nokia

The Nokia 9 Pureview, meanwhile, focuses on completely different aspects, but not on the Snapdragon 855. The 845 is still installed on the flagship of the Finns, yet the device delivers unprecedented camera performance. The Pureview is a prime example of the fact that the SoC alone does not make a great phone, but the SoC can be used as a template.

The Snapdragon 855 enables the processing of more image information. The camera interface on the SoC enables video recordings in 4K with High Dynamic Range image information (HDR10) and sends image information from a dual camera setup with up to 30 frames per second and 22 megapixel image resolution from the camera to the software. This is possible with up to 48 megapixels from a single camera. The 845 was only capable of 16 and 32 megapixels in the same quality, as the Snapdragon also performs Multi Frame Noise Reduction, i.e. image correction, and shoots with Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL), i.e. without delay. Without all the software features, the Snapdragon 855 can process up to 192 megapixels. But beware: this is only what the SoC delivers.

What manufacturers such as Nokia build into their phones adds to this. Because it is thanks to these modifications that a functioning camera system is possible in the first place. So Nokia takes the 845, builds or buys hardware and software for it and in the end you have a camera system like no other, even if the hardware is not fundamentally designed for it.

On our own behalf: Take a look at this sexy phone

I should have finished here. But while researching this article, I came across the Xiaomi Mi 9 Explorer Edition. Not only does it feature the Snapdragon 855 and is part of the marketing machinery for the "Alita: Battle Angel" film, it also has a transparent back plate.

This is an extremely beautiful smartphone, isn't it? Sure, the scene is ripping itself apart over the fact that some of the visible parts are certainly purely decorative, but is that so important? The default background image of the home screen is also nice. It looks like it's the other side of the machinery at the back.

Trompe l'oeil 2.0: The Mi 9 looks like it has the same parts at the front as at the back
Source: ShiftDelete

Of course, the Mi 9 can do much more and the advertising machinery for Alita and the phone is in full swing, but the look alone has put the phone on my "To Review" list.

So, that's it. Have we seen a nice phone. I'm off to the inbox to wait for the Mi 9. <p

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Dominik Bärlocher

Senior Editor

dominik.baerlocher@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.

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