Qualcomm accused Apple of violating its battery patents. Apple denied those claims and then came back with accusations of its own.
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Saygus V Squared customers promised Snapdragon 835 version for free
It won hearts and money two years ago, but even after the Indiegogo, Saygus dropped off the map. It's been clawing its way back with big promises.
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Official Snapdragon 835 benchmarks shine, but on a reference device
The Snapdragon 835 gets official benchmark runs against Snap 821, 820, Exynos 8890 and Kirin 960 devices. And the numbers look good... for a reference bed.
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Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 goes official with Snapdragon 820 and ‘enhanced’ S Pen
The Super AMOLED display-sporting Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 you've been waiting for so long is finally unveiled, S Pen support and all.
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Xiaomi Mi MAX 2 may be first to feature Snapdragon 660
Rumors say that the mid-ranger of this year could be the octa-core version of a top-end quad-core chip from last year. Will we see it in action soon?
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Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 benchmarked with Snapdragon 820, 4GB RAM, same old screen
The long overdue Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 (9.6) is today exposed in a pre-release benchmark, with Snapdragon 820 and 4GB RAM apparently inside.
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Should Microsoft still try to make a 3-in-1 device?
I gotta say, things are getting interesting. First, you had phones that plugged into dumb terminals to make a laptop. Then you have a Continuum which allows you to use your phone as a CPU for a…well, ok we’ll call it a computer. Now, we have full Windows running on a Snapdragon processor. For those who don’t keep up, that’s a big deal. Snapdragon processors run a fair number of phones in the world, and a desktop OS is running on it. Let that sink in.
At the same time, I have to wonder if we’re ready for this. Or more accurately if this is ready for this. What I mean is, sure we can run Windows on an ARM processor, and therefore a phone. But the question remains, should we? I mean, that is a lot of heavy lifting for a processor to manage.
Lagging behind
Take, for example, my Dell XPS 13 laptop. I love this laptop. But it is a core i3 processor in there (spoiler alert: because it was cheap) and while Windows 10 runs great on it, and I love Windows 10 on it, when push comes to shove and I start doing some real work on here, it shows. Get a few browsers open with multiple windows/tabs each, Slack, and a couple of other apps, and suddenly smooth isn’t so smooth. I expect this because this is not a top of the line laptop, but I suspect it’ll be just as bad or worse on a phone.
We’ve seen Windows running on a Snapdragon processor, and I noticed that the demo included exactly one app at a time. Granted, one of those apps was Photoshop, so honestly, I’m impressed. But demos are one thing, real world experience is quite another. As I illustrated above, actual work/productive sessions can be quite different than lab-conditions and demos. This is no fault of the processor or the device. Windows 10 wasn’t built to be on a phone or even an ARM processor.
And yet…
But maybe this is one of those “have it and not need it” situations. I tend to think it is. Let’s take a step back here and realize something. We are living in a great time. We are living in a world that is quickly starting to resemble the future that movies and TV showed us years ago. We’re lacking the flying cars, but the Cubs have won the World Series, which is probably less believable than a phone running Windows 10. Nevertheless, we are walking around with computers in our pockets – we have been for quite some time. Maybe it’s time we actually started carrying around computers in our pockets.
After all, it’s not like we’re going to stop building PCs tomorrow. This is a concept that will help in a pinch. Please, let’s not talk about editing PowerPoints on the go. No one does that. Or at least, no one should. Because PowerPoints are yuck, but that’s a different editorial. But for those times that you need a computer, or you need to run a full Windows app on your phone, the tech should be there. And when you don’t, you can stick with the lighter, more mobile centric apps.
Unicorn: now
The dream is still alive. Using one device to handle all your processing needs is still a unicorn in this industry. But Microsoft is pushing further and further toward that unicorn. And we’re starting to see results of that pushing. Microsoft is making a lot possible that people assumed were only pipe dreams. This brings us another step closer to that dream, and that’s a wonderful thing. If I can set my phone down and have it become my Dell XPS 13, I think I’ll be pretty happy in that future.
Think also of the cost savings. It has been said over and over that for many people around the world, their phone is their only computer. Bringing a robust operating system to their only computing device is a powerful prospect indeed. Instead of buying a computer and a phone, we can virtually eliminate that first purchase and make full-bodied computing accessible to that many more people.
But what do you think? Are we ready for our phones to become our computers? Do we even need our phones to become our computers? Is there a very good reason why companies like Apple and Google are not chasing this dream? Is Microsoft on to something? Sound off below in the comments and let’s get a good conversation going. This isn’t a clear-cut concept, so let’s see if we can figure this out.
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Snapdragon 835 benchmark affirms octa-core design
A supposed development board for the upcoming Snapdragon 835 chipset has shown up on the listings of GFXBench and what tests have found is that Qualcomm has made vast improvements with its Adreno GPU.
If what we are seeing is true, then we can affirm that the 835 will have eight cores. They are said to sport the proprietary Kryo 200 design from Qualcomm. In addition, there’s a 5.9-inch quad HD display, about 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage to back up this Android Nougat workhorse.
The Adreno 540 GPU seems to be the star, taking things considerably higher than the Adreno 530 as featured on the Snapdragon 820 and 821.
Comparing results between the workboard — again, an Adreno 540 driving 1440p pictures — with a OnePlus 3T, — a Snapdragon 821 with the Adreno 530 at 1080p — we find a 20 to 30 percent improvement in grindstone performance on average.
The results are below. We should note that none of what are considered the “high-level tests” were done onscreen:
| Tests | Total frames / Adreno 540 | Total frames / Adreno 530 | FPS / Adreno 540 | FPS / Adreno 530 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver Overhead 2 (OpenGL ES 3.0) | 1176 | 527 | 59.2 | 17.6 |
| Driver Overhead 2 (Offscreen) | 2444 | 1071 | 40.7 | 17.9 |
| ALU 2 (OpenGL ES 3.0) | 1602 | 1781 | 53.4 | 59.4 |
| ALU 2 (Offscreen) | 5156 | 4977 | 83.9 | 83.0 |
| Tessellation (OpenGL ES 3.1 + AEP) | 1713 | 1783 | 57.1 | 59.4 |
| Tessellation (Offscreen) | 4545 | 4233 | 75.8 | 70.6 |
| T-Rex (OpenGL ES 2.0/Offscreen) | 6434 | 5266 | 114.9 | 94.0 |
| Manhattan (OpenGL ES 3.0/Offscreen) | 3833 | 3029 | 61.8 | 48.9 |
| Manhattan 3.1 (OpenGL ES 3.1/Offscreen) | 2567 | 2040 | 41.4 | 32.9 |
We have not been able to independently view all of the test results ourselves because the source page has become inaccessible to us, but all of these signs are encouraging and more VR-friendly than ever before.
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Qualcomm’s first 10nm-based processor is the Samsung-manufactured Snapdragon 835
Samsung believed in Qualcomm after the Snapdragon 810 flop, helping shape up the SD820 SoC which the Galaxy S7 then used in the US and China as opposed to the entirely homebrewed Exynos 8890. Now it’s the semiconductor specialist’s turn to return the favor, trusting in the chaebol’s advanced, industry-first 10nm FinFET technology, despite Samsung’s very full plate that could interfere with the production and release schedule of the Snapdragon 835 processor.
Forget 830, 825 or 823 naming speculation. The SD820 and 821’s H1 2017 sequel is something special, and the Snapdragon 835 moniker perfectly reflects its many notable improvements.
Unfortunately, Qualcomm only confirms a considerably “smaller chip footprint, giving OEMs more usable space inside upcoming products to support larger batteries or slimmer designs.” We’re told to expect “significant improvements in battery life”, while Samsung’s 10-nanometer die shrink theoretically allows “up to a 30% increase in area efficiency with 27% higher performance or up to 40% lower power consumption” compared to 14nm chips like the 820 and 821.
It’s important to note the Snapdragon 835 isn’t explicitly said to boost energy efficiency and raw speed by 30 or 40 percent, with details of that nature, as well as a CPU core count, frequency, GPU specs, memory or wireless capabilities coming later on, as we approach the vague “first half of 2017” commercial launch deadline.
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Qualcomm teases ‘something new’ from OnePlus, powered by Snapdragon 821
Qualcomm is without a doubt the world leader in supplying processors for both high-end and mid-range smartphones, but even though the San Diego-based semiconductor titan’s vast partner roster includes everyone from Samsung to LG, Huawei, Lenovo, HTC, BlackBerry, OPPO and Xiaomi, the company still finds time to promote a slightly lower-profile alliance.
In case you forgot, QCM insists on calling attention via Twitter to “something new from OnePlus” that’s apparently “on the way”, “powered by our #Snapdragon 821 processor.” That’s all you’ll get from the ever-growing American chip champion for now, which should be plenty to lend further credence to recent OnePlus 3T gossip.
Unless, of course, this is merely the super-early beginning of a buzz-building campaign for next year’s OnePlus 4, which feels like a stretch, not to mention a greatly improved SD830 SoC will probably become the flagship handheld norm by then.
For its part, the Snapdragon 821 marginally enhances the raw power and energy efficiency of the 820 inside the original OnePlus 3, begging the question of this 3T’s necessity. But perhaps the $479 incremental upgrade is to bump screen resolution up to Quad HD after all, picking up a superior 20MP rear-facing camera and souped-up 3,300 mAh or so battery as well. All shall be revealed and fully detailed next week, rumor has it.
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Apple A10 Fusion cores way bigger than competition
We know that iPhones have the best raw performance numbers and the best real-life use experience. Don’t knock us, knock the numbers. The latest set of them, though, digs into why the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus — and the A10 Fusion processor inside them — so painfully
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Alcatel Idol 4 Pro revived in benchmark with Android Nougat
The unreleased and still rumored-about Idol 4 Pro may have just gotten a GFXBench run showing it off with a different software load than previously talked about. It’s certainly bad news for anyone who appreciates choice in their high-spec hardware and flipping Live Tiles.The Snapdragon 820-eqipped phone runs an Alcatel-made user interface on top of Android 7.0 Nougat. That’s a starkly different software load than the
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Chinese retailers selling overclocked Xiaomi Mi 5 variants
No matter which Xiaomi Mi 5 you buy, you’re getting the same Snapdragon 820 as anyone else with an Adreno 530 GPU. The same 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM are there.But man, can things get different.At least one online retailer in China is selling a modified version of the Mi 5. The original Mi 5’s Snap 820 was apparently hard-limited at 1.8GHz while this version brings it up to its max potential of 2.15GHz. The Adreno 530 is stepped up from 510MHz to 624MHz. Lastly, RAM speeds jump ...
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Who really needs LG V20 spec rumors when they can just wait a day?
Tomorrow is the day when we’ll get to figure out what makes the LG V20 tick. Sure, Android 7.0 Nougat, of course, but what’s the silicon inside of it? Are there any numbers we could pull up? What kind of beast is this multimedia monster supposed to be?Well, one ...
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Qualcomm introduces another piece of reference hardware, the Snapdragon VR820
If manufacturers want to take their work on the Snapdragon 820 SoC to things above smartphones and tablets, — say, an all-in-one VR headset — then Qualcomm has just laid out a “square one” for them.The Snapdragon VR820 gives developers reference hardware in designing software and content experiences for consumers who happen to be interested in Snapdragon 820-powered wireless headsets.The San Diego chip designer hitched with Shenzhen-based manufacturer Goertek ...
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