Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 810, 808 chips for next-gen smartphones

James Delahunty
7 Apr 2014 12:33

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 810 and Snapsragon 808 chips that will power next-generation smartphones from 2015.
The chipmaker says the 810 and 808 are its most powerful chips yet, with vast improvements for video, imaging, graphics and connectivity. Both 64-bit chips implement Cat 6 LTE Advanced on-chip, designed with 20nm fabrication technology which delivers more performance at comparatively low power consumption.

The Snapdragon 810 is definitely the one to covet of the two. Here is a run down of what it boasts.
Snapdragon 810

• 20nm technology
• Four Cortex A57 cores for intensive, power hungry tasks
• Four Cortex A53 cores for non-intensive tasks
• Supports 4K Displays (external via HDMI 1.4)
• 14-bit dual Image Signal Processors, 1.2GP/s throughput, image sensors up to 55MP
• High-speed LPDDR4 memory
• New Adreno 430 Graphics Processing Unit
• Adreno 430 is 30 percent faster than Adreno 420, 100 percent faster for GPGPU operations.
• Adreno 430 reduces power consumption by up to 20 percent
• Integrated CAT-6 LTE Advanced on-chip
• Supports VIVE 2-stream 802.11ac with MU-MIMO
• Bluetooth 4.1, USB 3.0, NFC and Qualcomm IZat location core

Snapdragon 808

• 20nm technology
• Two Cortext A57 cores for intensive, power hungry tasks
• Four Cortex A53 cores for non-intensive tasks
• Supports 2K Displays, WQXGA (2560x1600), (External 4k via HDMI1.4)
• LPDDR3 memory
• Adreno 418 GPU
• Adreno 418 GPU provides 20 percent faster graphics performance than predecessor Adreno 330
• Integrated CAT-6 LTE Advanced on-chip

The Snapdragon 810 and Snapdragon 808 won't be deployed in products until 2015 at earliest, as the 64-bit Snapdragon 610 and Snapdragon 615 were only announced in February and will only be deployed in the forthcoming holiday season.

Qualcomm's decision to reveal the details of these next-gen chips so early is likely driven by increasing competition in the space for mobile chips.