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Technology

Qualcomm's New Snapdragon 870 Reheats the Snapdragon 865 for 2021 Phones (theverge.com) 25

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Qualcomm has announced a new mobile phone processor: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870, a successor to last year's Snapdragon 865 and 865 Plus models. To be clear, the 870 isn't a new next-gen design -- that title goes to the Snapdragon 888, which makes far more substantial improvements in performance and new features. From a report: The 870, on the other hand, is virtually identical to the 865 and 865 Plus, with the same design right down to the Kryo 585 CPU and Adreno 650 GPU cores. The 870 is clocked at 3.2GHz, however, making it about 10 percent faster than the original 865's 2.84GHz and about 3 percent faster than the 865 Plus (which offered 3.1GHz speeds). Think of it almost like a Snapdragon 865 Plus-plus. Qualcomm says that the reason for the new chip is in response to manufacturer and market demands. The 870 is designed for companies that want to offer a top-tier processor but don't need the absolute best features that the flagship Snapdragon 888 offers and the higher price tag that it demands. Instead, the company says that it expects that Snapdragon 870 phones should hit a sub-$800 price tag (although, confusingly, we've already seen Snapdragon 888 phones like the $799 Galaxy S21 start to bleed into that range).
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Qualcomm's New Snapdragon 870 Reheats the Snapdragon 865 for 2021 Phones More

Qualcomm's New Snapdragon 870 Reheats the Snapdragon 865 for 2021 Phones

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  • So . . . (Score:3)

    by UnknowingFool ( 672806 ) on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @10:42AM (#60964054)

    Instead, the company says that it expects that Snapdragon 870 phones should hit a sub-$800 price tag (although, confusingly, we've already seen Snapdragon 888 phones like the $799 Galaxy S21 start to bleed into that range).

    So last year's top end Qualcomm CPU has been overclocked slightly, given a new mobel number, and sells for slightly cheaper--maybe. Is that it?

    • At those prices no wonder people are trying to turn cellphones into personal computers. Costs about as much.

      • They already are personal computers...just not very useful ones.

        • Depending on what you use a computer for.

          For most people, Web Browsing, Email and a few small Apps. A Smart Phone does its job really well.

          For a lot of people getting a Laptop or a desktop is less about doing more than what you want your cell phone to do. it is just about getting a bigger screen, and more custom input mouse/keyboard.

          Samsung, has its DEX feature, which you can plug a monitor, keyboard and mouse to your phone, and you have a usable desktop environment. In practicality, I could actually do m

          • They're computers designed to be owned and used by a single person, hence they're personal computers.

          • Samsung, has its DEX feature, which you can plug a monitor, keyboard and mouse to your phone, and you have a usable desktop environment.

            * Only for select flagship models and, last I checked, none of Samsung's low-mid range.

            It's something I'd be keen to try but not on my budget (saving for a house). Not worth the couple of hundred dollar premium - For $US75 one can get an ARM64 Linux computer such as the RPi 4 with dual video out.

            DeX could be a 'killer' feature but will remain a niche as long as market

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      So last year's top end Qualcomm CPU has been overclocked slightly, given a new mobel number, and sells for slightly cheaper--maybe. Is that it?

      Looks that way. As energy per computation is the real limiter, do not expect any large progress in this space, unless and until one of these persistent "Magic Battery!" announcements actually pans out.

  • Poor Qualcomm; over 10 years to catch up with Apple's SoCs, and yet all they got is to try to clock their same old broke-ass, power-hungry SoCs faster, making them even more power-hungry.

    Nice try, Qualcomm!

  • Have no idea what this means, but anything about being "hot" is not good marketing for a processing unit....
    • Came here to say the same thing. The metaphor in the title is confusing.

      Although, based on the fact that the clock speed seems to have been increased, I expect that "more heat" is indeed a new feature. Maybe that's what the editors were going for.
  • if you give it a new name.

  • designed for companies that want to offer a top-tier processor but don't need the absolute best features that the flagship Snapdragon 888 offers

    So in other words its designed for people that DON'T actually want to offer a top-tier processor; but want marketing materials that make it sound like they do.

  • The story here is that mobile processors now have room to grow. In the old days and still today, desktop processors would have room to grow as well, with overclocking options and advanced cooling set ups.

    Mobile processors have never really had that flexibility. But Qualcomm is clearly finding efficiencies in their semi-custom SoCs that enable a sort of Good / Better / Best version of the platforms over their lifecycle. That should result in more advanced features waterfalling down to lower pricing tiers, wi

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