Snapdragon 888: these smartphones get the new super chip
Qualcomm has officially unveiled the new Snapdragon 888 at their "Snapdragon Tech Summit". It should be the basis for many Android flagships in the coming year.
As usual, the Snapdragon is not just a simple CPU, but a System-on-a-Chip (short SoC). This means: Many different components have been combined under one roof. Yesterday's presentation however only gave a first glimpse of the new Snapdragon 888, with many more details to follow today – Qualcomm's Tech Summit this year will take place on December 1 and 2, 2020 – and in the coming days.
One of the most important new features concerns 5G. The 888 offers a modem integrated into the SoC, Qualcomm's X60, for the new wireless standard. In earlier models, such as the Snapdragon 865, the 5G chip was still a separate component. So until now, manufacturers had to make room in the already packed smartphone if they wanted to support 5G with the Qualcomm chip. At the same time, the integration of the modem should also help to save power. The X60 modem allows download rates of up to 7.5 Gbps and uploads of up to 3 Gbps.
The new chip also includes improvements in artificial intelligence and with its image signal processor (ISP). The combination of these is expected to provide significant improvements in low-light and night-time photography, for example, as the AI and camera can automatically select the optimal settings.
Snapdragon 888: manufacturers announce support
It is expected that the new Snapdragon 888 will be found in most Android flagships next year. Specifically, Asus, Black Shark, LG, Meizu, Motorola, Nubia, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo, Sharp, Vivo, Xiaomi and ZTE have already been mentioned. At Motorola, the Snapdragon 888 will be used in the Moto G family and in Oppo's new Find-X series, as the manufacturers have already announced.
Qualcomm didn't mention Samsung explicitly, but the next Galaxy S21 models are likely to use the new high-end chip – at least for the US version. For OnePlus, the OnePlus 9 models are very likely candidates, also in regards to the past years.
As already mentioned above, further details about the Snapdragon 888 will be revealed in the following hours at Qualcomm's Tech Summit.
