Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 and 875: First Information About Flagship Chipsets

Not long ago, Qualcomm released an upgraded version of its flagship Snapdragon 855 processor called Snapdragon 855 Plus. After that we received the first information about upcoming flagship chipsets – Snapdragon 865 and 875.

The announcement of Snapdragon 865 will take place at the end of the year, while the first smartphones with it will appear no earlier than January 2020. As for Snapdragon 875, the processor will be released in 2020.

However, we already have the first information about Snapdragon 865.

Snapdragon 865 and 875: Specifications

So, until recently, there were rumors that TSMC will make the new processor. However, the latest leaks say that the South Korean giant – Samsung – will be engaged in production of new processors. We should say that Samsung already made the chipsets for Qualcomm, such as Snapdragon 820, 835 and 845. However, TSMC produced  the latest Qualcomm processor – Snapdragon 855.

Now it’s known that Snapdragon 865 will be created on 7 nanometer process technology using the new EUV technology.

EUV technology stands for extreme ultraviolet lithography. It involves the use of ultraviolet rays to more accurately mark silicon transistors inside the processor.

Snapdragon 875 will receive an even more modern 5-nanometer process technology. The sources say that Snapdragon 875 will be made by TSMC, because the company will be the first to produce  5nm process technology.

Snapdragon 865 and 875: Features

New processors will receive an improved energy efficiency and performance. Since there is still a lot of time left before the release of Snapdragon 875, the improvements of Snapdragon 865 in comparison with flagship Snapdragon 855 Plus are mainly described. It is reported that using EUV technology, performance will be increased by at least 20%. However, energy consumption will decrease by at least 30%.

In addition, we have the screenshot from GeekBench benchmarks. It shows the performance of Snapdragon 865.

The new processor appears under the code name Kona. It scores 4200 points in single core test and 13000 in multi core test. You should understand that this is only sample of processor, which is far from mass production. Most likely, the chipset in December will be much more powerful.

It is also known that Snapdragon 865 will be available in two versions. They received the code names Kona and Huracan. We don’t know how the chipsets will differ. However, both processor will use ultra-fast RAM standard LPDDR5X, user memory standard UFS 3.0 and a modem with support for 5G networks.

Snapdragon 865 and 875: Smartphones

The first smartphones based on Snapdragon 865 will go on sale no earlier than the beginning of 2020. This will happen either in January or at MWC 2020. It depends on how long the flagship announcements are planned.

At the same time, smartphones based on Snapdragon 875 should be expected no earlier than the beginning of 2021. Of course, Samsung, Xiaomi, Sony, LG and other popular manufacturers will use the flagship processor in their new smartphones.