Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G SoC launched, based on older 7nm architecture with a higher clock speed

Qualcomm recently debuted a new Snapdragon 8-series chipset. The Snapdragon 870 SoC is a flagship-grade chip based on last year’s 7nm TSMC process as opposed to the new 5nm EUV process as the Snapdragon 888. The chip looks like a faster Snapdragon 865+ SoC, and debuts with the highest clock speed of any smartphone chip.

The Snapdragon 870 chipset packs a Cortex-A77 core clocked at 3.2 GHz, which is faster than the 3.1 GHz on the Snapdragon 865+ and 3.13 GHz prime core on the Kirin 9000. This makes the CPU on the Snapdragon 870 SoC the fastest till date. However, we can’t tell how this will impact overall performance as the Cortex-X1 runs at 2.84 GHz, but easily beats the two Snapdragon 865 chips in benchmarking tests.

Additionally, the Snapdragon 870 uses three more Cortex A-77 cores and four Cortex A-55 cores. The Adreno 650 GPU is the same as that on the SD865 SoC, although we aren’t sure about GPU frequency. The Hexagon 698 and the Tensor Accelerator on the new SD870 deliver the same 15 TOPS, so no change there. The display driver can run QHD (1440p) class panels at up to 144Hz or 4K at 60 Hz.

The Spectra 480 ISP also remains unchanged and offers support for sensors up to 200 MP sensors and support for 8K video at up to 30fps, 4K fps at up to 120fps, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+. It also uses the FastConnect 6800 system and supports Wi-Fi 6 (up to 1.77 Gbps) and Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX Voice and Adaptive. It is worth noting that the Snapdragon 865+ SoC uses the FastConnect 6900 system and supports Wi-Fi 6E.

Unlike the Snapdragon 888, the Snapdragon X55 5G modem on the SD870 has an external modem with mmWave support (up to 7.5 Gbps downlink speeds). Several OEMs, including Xiaomi, Motorola, iQOO, OnePlus, Motorola, and Oppo have already confirmed upcoming devices powered by the Snapdragon 870 chipset.