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Specs appeal: Comparing the Snapdragon 865 to the Snapdragon 855

At its Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui today, Qualcomm announced its next-generation chipset, the Snapdragon 865. The new Mobile Platform packs a ton of new features, such as on-device AI, and an array of camera features.

For the first time, your phone will be able to recoard 8K video at 30fps, or record 4K video with Dolby Vision HDR. You can also record slow motion 4K video for the first time at 120fps, and for those that love HD slow motion at 960fps, there's no longer a split-second time limit on it. You can record 960fps for as long as your device's available storage will allow.

Naturally, there are a bunch of performance improvements. In fact, for the first time, OEMs will be able to ship GPU driver updates through the Google Play Store. But in terms of specs, what's different from last year's Snapdragon 855? Let's take a look:

Snapdragon 855 Snapdragon 855+ Snapdragon 865
CPU 2.84 GHz octa-core Kryo 485 2.96GHz octa-core Kryo 485 2.84GHz octa-core Kryo 585
GPU Adreno 640 Adreno 650
Process 7nm
AI Engine AIE CPU: Qualcomm Kryo 485 CPU

AIE GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 640 GPU

AIE DSP: Qualcomm Hexagon 690 Processor, Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant, Qualcomm All-Ways Aware technology

AIE CPU: Qualcomm Kryo 585 CPU

AIE GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU

AIE DSP: Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Sensing Hub, Qualcomm Hexagon 698 Processor, Qualcomm Hexagon Scalar Accelerator

DSP Qualcomm Hexagon 690 Processor, Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant, Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Qualcomm All-Ways Aware technology Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX)
FastConnect

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Subsystem: Qualcomm FastConnect 6200

Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 5.1

Wi-Fi 6-ready features: Dual-band simultaneous (DBS), Target Wakeup Time, 8x8 sounding, WPA3 security support

60 GHz Wi-Fi features: Always-on Wi-Fi sensing, Wire-equivalent latency

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Subsystem: Qualcomm FastConnect 6800

60 GHz Wi-Fi features: Always-on Wi-Fi sensing, Wire-equivalent latency

Bluetooth Features: 1-to-many Bluetooth broadcast, Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo, Bluetooth 5.1, Qualcomm aptX Voice audio for super wide band voice calls, Qualcomm aptX Adaptive

Wi-Fi 6 features: MU-MIMO (Uplink and Downlink), 8x8 sounding, OFDMA (Uplink and Downlink), 1024 QAM, Dual-band simultaneous (DBS), WPA3 security support, Target Wake Time

Cellular modem Qualcomm Snapdragon X24 LTE modem, Snapdragon X50 5G Modem-RF System Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G modem-RF system
Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi Standards: 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax-ready, 802.11ac Wave 2, 802.11a/b/g, 802.11n

Wi-Fi Spectral Bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 60 GHz

Peak Speed: 10 Gbps

Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6-ready technology features: Dual-band simultaneous (DBS), Target Wakeup Time, 8x8 sounding, WPA3 security support

Qualcomm 60 GHz Wi-Fi technology features: Always-on Wi-Fi sensing, Wire-equivalent latency

USB USB 3.1, USB-C
Camera

Image Signal Processor: Qualcomm Spectra 380 image signal processor, Hardware accelerator for computer vision (CV-ISP), Dual 14-bit CV-ISPs

Dual Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 22 MP

Single Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 48 MP

Single Camera: Up to 192 MP

Camera Features: HEIF photo capture

Slow Motion Video Capture: 720p @ 480 FPS

Video Capture Formats: HDR10, HLG, HEVC

Video Capture Features: Rec. 2020 color gamut video capture, Up to 10-bit color depth video capture

Image Signal Processor: Qualcomm Spectra 480 image signal processor, Hardware accelerator for computer vision (CV-ISP), Dual 14-bit CV-ISPs

Dual Camera, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 25 MP

Single Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 64 MP

Single Camera: Up to 200 MP

Camera Features: HEIF photo capture

Slow Motion Video Capture: 720p @ 960 FPS

Video Capture Formats: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HEVC

Video Capture Features: 4K video capture with simultaneous 64MP photo capture, Rec. 2020 color gamut video capture, Up to 10-bit color depth video capture

Video H.265 (HEVC), HDR10+, HLG, HDR10, H.264 (AVC), VP8, VP9 Dolby Vision, H.265 (HEVC), HDR10+, HLG, HDR10, H.264 (AVC), VP8, VP9
Display

Max On-Device Display: 4K Ultra HD

Max External Display: 4K Ultra HD

HDR: HDR10+

Color Depth: Up to 10-bit

Color Gamut: Rec2020

Max On-Device Display: 4K @ 60 Hz, QHD+ @ 144 Hz

Max External Display: 4K @ 60 Hz

HDR: HDR10+, HDR10

Color Depth: Up to 10-bit

Color Gamut: Rec2020

Audio

Audio Technology: Qualcomm TrueWireless Technology, Qualcomm Broadcast Audio technology, Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology, Qualcomm aptX audio technology

Qualcomm aptX audio playback support: Qualcomm aptX Adaptive

Audio Technology: Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant Accelerator, Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec up to WCD9385, Qualcomm Aqstic smart speaker amplifier up to WSA8815, Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology
Memory

Memory speed: 2133MHz

Memory Type: 4x16bit, LPDDR4x

Memory speed: 2750MHz

Memory Type: 4x16bit, LPDDR5


As you can see, there are a lot of big changes here, including the Kryo 585 CPU, the Adreno 650 GPU, and support for LPDDR5 memory. Note that this information comes from Qualcomm's own spec sheets, so there are some limitations, being that the company doesn't share clock speeds of things like the GPU and the ISP. The clock speed on the Adreno 640 in the Snapdragon 855+ is certainly higher than the one in the 855.

If you're a fan of Samsung, this is all stuff that's worth paying attention to. Samsung will be one of the first to use the Snapdragon 865, and the key new features that Qualcomm is showing off are going to land in the Galaxy S11. Either way, next year should be a pretty exciting year for Android smartphones, no matter which feature you care about.

Qualcomm sponsored the travel and accommodations for Neowin to attend Snapdragon Technology Summit.

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