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| 5 upcoming smartphones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor |
The Snapdragon 810's throttling and overheating problems made the first
half of 2015 quite bothersome for chipmaker Qualcomm. After building a
reputation for strong, compelling products, the company found itself in
the unnatural position of having to defend itself and a compromised
chipset against the overwhelming criticism it faced.
Although Qualcomm's PR department did do whatever it could to exercise damage control, the company's upcoming Snapdragon 820 SoC might turn out to be exactly the form of reputation management needed. Over the years, it has been powerful, yet efficient chipsets with custom-designed cores and integrated LTE modems that built the Qualcomm powerhouse across the low, mid, and high-end device tiers. So if the Snapdragon 820 SoC, which will inevitably propel the majority of second-half 2015 and early 2016 flagships, regardless of its reliability, returns to the glory days of awesome Qualcomm chips, everyone will win. The chipmaker. The customers. Even Samsung! How so?
If the prophecy is fulfilled, Samsung will become Qualcomm's manufacturing partner for the SD 820, which will let Qcom take advantage of Sammy's established 14nm FinFET production process to build its most powerful chipset to date. Its CPU integrates four custom 64-bit CPU cores codenamed Kryo, clocked at up to 3GHz each. There's also the new Adreno 530 GPU at play, along with an advanced MDM9X55 LTE-A Cat. 10 modem.
It's way early to predict how the Snapdragon 820 will turn out, but with custom cores and an advanced production process involved, we reckon we should keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best! And to put "hope" into a more material context, here are five Snapdragon 820-powered smartphone "hopefuls" in the making. They shall be announced in the third and fourth quarter of 2015, due for release in early 2016 as Qualcomm and Samsung sort out the SD 820's mass production process.
Although Qualcomm's PR department did do whatever it could to exercise damage control, the company's upcoming Snapdragon 820 SoC might turn out to be exactly the form of reputation management needed. Over the years, it has been powerful, yet efficient chipsets with custom-designed cores and integrated LTE modems that built the Qualcomm powerhouse across the low, mid, and high-end device tiers. So if the Snapdragon 820 SoC, which will inevitably propel the majority of second-half 2015 and early 2016 flagships, regardless of its reliability, returns to the glory days of awesome Qualcomm chips, everyone will win. The chipmaker. The customers. Even Samsung! How so?
If the prophecy is fulfilled, Samsung will become Qualcomm's manufacturing partner for the SD 820, which will let Qcom take advantage of Sammy's established 14nm FinFET production process to build its most powerful chipset to date. Its CPU integrates four custom 64-bit CPU cores codenamed Kryo, clocked at up to 3GHz each. There's also the new Adreno 530 GPU at play, along with an advanced MDM9X55 LTE-A Cat. 10 modem.
It's way early to predict how the Snapdragon 820 will turn out, but with custom cores and an advanced production process involved, we reckon we should keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best! And to put "hope" into a more material context, here are five Snapdragon 820-powered smartphone "hopefuls" in the making. They shall be announced in the third and fourth quarter of 2015, due for release in early 2016 as Qualcomm and Samsung sort out the SD 820's mass production process.
5 upcoming smartphones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor
1. LG G4 Pro
Expected announcement: October
LG hasn't been coy about its plans to one-up the LG G4 as little as six months after its unveiling. The Korean firm is building an LG G4 Pro phablet that's reportedly Snapdragon 820-powered, dons an all-metal build, and is to be premièred in October. It is said the device will feature a 5.8-inch 1440 x 2560 resolution display, 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, up to 64GB of internal storage, and a serious camera duo - 27MP on the back, 8MP on the front. Chances are LG will blow us away with this phone like neever before, but hopefully, the software experience will match the quality hardware for real this time.
LG hasn't been coy about its plans to one-up the LG G4 as little as six months after its unveiling. The Korean firm is building an LG G4 Pro phablet that's reportedly Snapdragon 820-powered, dons an all-metal build, and is to be premièred in October. It is said the device will feature a 5.8-inch 1440 x 2560 resolution display, 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, up to 64GB of internal storage, and a serious camera duo - 27MP on the back, 8MP on the front. Chances are LG will blow us away with this phone like neever before, but hopefully, the software experience will match the quality hardware for real this time.
2. Xiaomi Mi5 & Mi5 Plus
Expected announcement: November
Reports out of China indicate that Xiaomi plans to unveil the Xiaomi Mi5 and Mi5 Plus sometime in November, setting the stage for an eventual early 2016 release. Reportedly, the Mi5 is to feature a 5.2-inch 2.5D glass display with a 1440 x 2560 resolution, the Snapdragon 820 SoC, and two memory configurations - 3GB of RAM with 16GB of internal storage, and 4GB of RAM with 64GB of memory. There will be a 16MP rear camera at play, along with a 3000mAh battery, and it is said that the smartphone will measure just 6.1mm thick. On the other hand, the Mi5 Plus will get a 6-inch Quad-HD screen and 4GB RAM by default, along with a 20MP rear cam.
Reports out of China indicate that Xiaomi plans to unveil the Xiaomi Mi5 and Mi5 Plus sometime in November, setting the stage for an eventual early 2016 release. Reportedly, the Mi5 is to feature a 5.2-inch 2.5D glass display with a 1440 x 2560 resolution, the Snapdragon 820 SoC, and two memory configurations - 3GB of RAM with 16GB of internal storage, and 4GB of RAM with 64GB of memory. There will be a 16MP rear camera at play, along with a 3000mAh battery, and it is said that the smartphone will measure just 6.1mm thick. On the other hand, the Mi5 Plus will get a 6-inch Quad-HD screen and 4GB RAM by default, along with a 20MP rear cam.
3. Mstar S700 Pro
Expected announcement: October
Who the heck is Mstar? Well, Mstar is a Chinese upstart that wants to make the transition from no-name white box manufacturer to one that takes smartphone building as seriously as the big guys. To get itself started on the right track, Mstar is expected to unleash the S700 Pro flagship in October. The handset will have a 2.5D glass 5.5-inch Quad-HD resolution screen and will be powered by the Snapdragon 820 SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. There will be a 21MP camera on the S700 Pros's back, alongside a 11MP unit on the front. The package is complete by a 3500mAh battery, Android 5.1.1, an Ultrasonic Sense fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C connectivity, and a purported $480 price tag. Yummy!
Who the heck is Mstar? Well, Mstar is a Chinese upstart that wants to make the transition from no-name white box manufacturer to one that takes smartphone building as seriously as the big guys. To get itself started on the right track, Mstar is expected to unleash the S700 Pro flagship in October. The handset will have a 2.5D glass 5.5-inch Quad-HD resolution screen and will be powered by the Snapdragon 820 SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. There will be a 21MP camera on the S700 Pros's back, alongside a 11MP unit on the front. The package is complete by a 3500mAh battery, Android 5.1.1, an Ultrasonic Sense fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C connectivity, and a purported $480 price tag. Yummy!
4. HTC Aero
Expected announcement: Q4 2015
HTC knows it failed to impress anyone but design pundits and loyals with its One M9 flagship, and according to prolific leak bandit @evleaks, it already got back to the drawing board and started devising an HTC Aero "hero phone" for the fourth quarter of this year. So far, the only thing that we know about it is that it will be powered by the Snapdragon 820 SoC. How far will HTC go into overhauling its concept for a flagship smartphone, though, remains to be seen.
HTC knows it failed to impress anyone but design pundits and loyals with its One M9 flagship, and according to prolific leak bandit @evleaks, it already got back to the drawing board and started devising an HTC Aero "hero phone" for the fourth quarter of this year. So far, the only thing that we know about it is that it will be powered by the Snapdragon 820 SoC. How far will HTC go into overhauling its concept for a flagship smartphone, though, remains to be seen.
5. Sony Xperia Z5
Expected announcement: September
According to the recent news, Sony is hard at work at a fifth-generation trio of Xperia Z series phones, and the purported chain of events could see the Xperia Z5, Z5 Ultra, and Z5 Compact unveiled as early as September in Japan, and presented to the rest of the world at IFA 2015. Reliable details about the phones are scarce at this point, and the rumor itself sounds quite flaky considering the Xperia Z3+/Z4 has barely lived on the market. But still, we're hearing of things like a Snapdragon 820 SoC, a fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C port, a 21MP camera with Sony Exmor RS IMX230 CMOS sensor and 4K video recording, a 4500mAh battery, and Android Lollipop rather than Android M.
According to the recent news, Sony is hard at work at a fifth-generation trio of Xperia Z series phones, and the purported chain of events could see the Xperia Z5, Z5 Ultra, and Z5 Compact unveiled as early as September in Japan, and presented to the rest of the world at IFA 2015. Reliable details about the phones are scarce at this point, and the rumor itself sounds quite flaky considering the Xperia Z3+/Z4 has barely lived on the market. But still, we're hearing of things like a Snapdragon 820 SoC, a fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C port, a 21MP camera with Sony Exmor RS IMX230 CMOS sensor and 4K video recording, a 4500mAh battery, and Android Lollipop rather than Android M.
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