Qualcomm has officially launched its latest chipset Snapdragon 835 for mobile devices, unlocking beast mode on several aspects of smartphones. Based on 10nm FinFET process, the new chipset is designed to handle more power and make your phones last longer than before.
Entertainment is at the core of this new chipset, which will let you binge on your hobbies – be it photography or gaming. It is safe to say that Snapdragon 835 is future-proof and it is now up to smartphone manufacturers to utilize the full potential of this chipset.
Snapdragon 835 features were leaked by Evan Blass before the official launch, so there was little surprise there. But what can this new chipset do for end users? Well, looking at its potential, we can say that SD835 has a lot to offer.
Firstly, Snapdragon 835 diffuses the long-standing battery life issue. By reducing the size of the chipset by 35 percent, Qualcomm has released more room for OEMs to make bigger batteries with thinner designs.
The new chipset also consumes 25 percent less power compared to the previous-gen chipset. Combine that with Quick Charge 4, which is 20 percent faster and 30 percent efficient than Quick Charge 3.0. We cannot wait to see that in action (Samsung, hope you are listening).
When we said the Snapdragon 835 is future-proof, we clearly had its capability to handle AR and VR seamlessly. "Snapdragon 835 is designed to simultaneously meet the high performance demands, thermal limits and power efficiency constraints of the next-generation virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) designs, and supports Daydream, Google's platform for high quality, mobile VR," the company said in a statement.
If you are an avid photographer and your next smartphone maker utilises the full potential of Snapdragon 835, be prepared for some exciting DSLR-level results. The chipset improves both your still and video shooting experience with smooth optical zoom, faster AF and improved HDR mode.
The Qualcomm Spectra 180 camera ISP at the core of SD835 enables support for up to 32MP single or dual 16MP cameras, so you can only imaging the level of details in your photos and videos.
Snapdragon 835 also prioritises security with three layers of security on the chip, device and system levels. Below are the key features of Snapdragon 835:
- Kryo 280 CPU with four performance cores running at up to 2.45 GHz and four efficiency cores running up to 1.9GHz.
- Cat. 16 LTE download speeds up to 1Gbps, and Cat. 13 LTE upload speeds up to 150Mbps via Snapdragon X16 LTE modem.
- 60 percent less Wi-Fi power consumption.
- Bluetooth 5 integration.
- Adreno 540 GPU supports OpenGL ES 3.2, full OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan and DX12.
- Supports Google Awareness API.
- 4K Ultra HD video capture @ 30 fps, up to 4K Ultra HD video playback @ 60 fps, support for H.264 (AVC) and H.265 (HEVC).
- Quick Charge 4 technology.
- Advanced security using Qualcomm SecureMSM hardware and software and the Qualcomm Haven security suite.
Qualcomm did not reveal the names of the handsets that will feature Snapdragon 835, but it revealed the first shipments will begin in the first half of 2017. Asus has already hinted at a Snapdragon 835-powered smartphone at the CES 2017 and Samsung Galaxy S8 is also likely to make its debut with the new processor.
