Qualcomm has shared the details of its latest 5G Mobile Platform the Snapdragon 888 SoC, which is built on 5nm process technology from Samsung after the announcement of the Snapdragon 888 SoC. The Chipset uses Qualcomm Kryo 680 cores clocked up to 2.84GHz which offers up to a 25% improved CPU performance by using the new Arm Cortex-X1 prime core. The Qualcomm Adreno 660 GPU gives up to 35% faster graphics rendering and is 20% more power-efficient as compared to the previous Snapdragon 865 SoC.
Camera -
The new Qualcomm Spectra 580 ISP is the first Snapdragon chipset with a Triple Image Signal Processor (ISP), capable of capturing from three cameras simultaneously at processing speeds—up to 2.7 gigapixels per second, 35% faster than the previous generation.
This also debuts a new low light architecture, for brighter photos, even in near darkness. Users can also enjoy 120fps burst snapshots for capturing ultra-fast high-resolution action shots or capture three 4K HDR videos at the same time. New 4K HDR with computational HDR video capture provides dramatic improvements to color, contrast, and detail.
Connectivity -
It is the world’s most advanced platform that implements 5G, along with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth audio for enhanced mobile experiences. The integrated 3rd generation Snapdragon X60 5G Modem-RF System enables support for 5G sub-6 carrier aggregation and mmWave to deliver the world’s fastest commercially available 5G speeds, up to 7.5 Gbps.
It features Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 Mobile Connectivity System, supporting the fastest Wi-Fi 6 speeds of any mobile Wi-Fi offering in the industry (up to 3.6 Gbps), as well as new 6 GHz capacity with Wi-Fi 6E. FastConnect 6900 also delivers a new class of crisp, reliable, and responsive audio with support for Bluetooth 5.2, dual Bluetooth antennas, Qualcomm aptX suite, broadcast audio, and advanced modulation & coding optimizations.
AI -
The 6th generation AI Engine with the new Qualcomm Hexagon 780 processor enables premium experiences that blend AI with professional cameras, personal voice assistants, elite gaming, lightning-fast connectivity, and more. Power efficiency is hugely improved as well, performance per Watt has increased by up to 3x.
The 2nd gen Sensing Hub integrates a dedicated low-power AI processor to enable use cases like screen awake, lift and activity detection, and audio event detection. Additionally, the new Qualcomm AI Engine Direct software will provide developers the flexibility to run their next-generation on-device AI-powered apps at full-throttle.
GPU -
Snapdragon Elite Gaming brings Variable Rate Shading (VRS) for the first time to mobile devices, previously available only on PCs and next-gen consoles. Powered by the new Adreno 660 GPU, VRS helps reduce GPU workloads and provides significant enhancements to games making them run faster and at higher resolutions while still maintaining the highest visual fidelity.
Games will see a 30% increase in gameplay performance from previous Snapdragon chipsets while running smoother and longer with lower power, says Qualcomm.
Security -
The Snapdragon 888 is the first mobile chipset to comply with the Content Authenticity Initiative standard. It can capture cryptographically-sealed photos, which include tamper-resistant metadata that prove an image is authentic (but does it in a privacy-sensitive way).
Snapdragon 888 features a new Type-1 Hypervisor, which provides a new way to secure and isolate data between apps and multiple operating systems on the same device.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Features -
| CPU | 1 x Kryo 680 Prime CPU (Arm Cortex-X1-based) at up to 2.84GHz, 3 x Kryo 680 Performance CPUs (A78-based) at up to 2.42GHz, 4x Kryo 680 Efficiency CPUs (A55-based) at up to 1.80GHz |
| Process | Samsung 5nm (5LPE) Process Technology |
| RAM/Storage | LPDDR5 3200MHz, 4x16bit memory / 44.0GB/s or LPDDR4X 2133MHz / 33.4GB/s |
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno 660GPU , OpenCL 2.0 FP, OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1, DX12, Volumetric VR video playback, 8K 360 VR video playback |
| API Support | OpenCL 2.0 Full, DirectX 12, OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.1 API support |
| Camera | Up to 28 MP triple camera, Up to 64MP dual camera, Up to 84 MP single camera with ZSL, Up to 200MP single camera, Qualcomm Spectra 580 Image Sensor Processor (14-bit triple-ISP), Real-time object classification, Low light photography architecture, 10-bit HDR HEIF photo capture, Multi-frame Noise Reduction (MFNR), 4K video capture with simultaneous 64MP photo capture, Rec. 2020 color gamut video capture, Up to 10-bit color depth video capture, 4K Video Capture at 120 FPS, Slow-mo video capture at 720p at 960 FPS, HEVC Video Capture, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG support, 4K HDR Video Capture with Portrait Mode (Bokeh) |
| Display | 4K at 60 Hz / QHD+ at 144 Hz, Maximum External Display Support: up to 4K @ 60 Hz, 10-bit color depth, Rec. 2020 color gamut, HDR10, and HDR10+ |
| Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engine | Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX) for AI and imaging, Qualcomm Hexagon Vector Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant, Qualcomm All-Ways Aware technology, 26TOPS AI performance |
| Video | Dolby Vision, H.265 (HEVC), HDR10+, HLG, HDR10, H.264 (AVC), VP8, VP9 |
| Audio | Qualcomm Aqstic smart speaker amplifier up to Qualcomm WSA8835, Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant Accelerator, Qualcomm Aqsti audio codec up to Qualcomm WCD9385, Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology |
| Network | Built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon X60 5G modem-RF system, 5G speeds of up to 7.5Gpbs down and 3 Gbps up, 5G mmWave: 800 MHz bandwidth, 8 carriers, 2×2 MIMO, 5G sub-6 GHz specs: 200 MHz bandwidth, 4×4 MIMO |
| Multi-SIM | LTE Dual SIM, VoLTE with SRVCC to 3G and 2G, Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) with LTE call continuity, HD and Ultra HD Voice (EVS) |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E, 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) Multi-gigabit, Integrated 802.11ac 2×2 (2-stream) MU-MIMO, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 60 GHz, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, Beidou, Galileo, GLONASS, Dual-frequency GNSS, GNSS, GPS, QZSS, NavIC, SBAS |
| Charger | Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 technology |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888-powered devices are expected to announce in the first quarter of 2021. Many companies had already confirmed that their plans to introduce new smartphones with Snapdragon 888 in the coming months.
