Qualcomm has unveiled a new flagship phone chipset, the Snapdragon 870, based on the architecture of the 2019 flagship Snapdragon 865 lineup.
The Snapdragon 870, like the 865+ before it, is essentially an overclocked version of the 865. This increases the main clock speed of the Kryo 585 processor to 3.2 GHz, a big step up from the 2.84 GHz of the 865 original.
But in reality, it’s just a more modest improvement over the 3.1GHz Snapdragon 865+ released in July of last year.
The rest of the components, specs, and functions remain the same, so don’t expect phones that include the Snapdragon 870, when they become reality, will offer much more advanced features compared to current models with the 865.
So what is its purpose? Well, probably, mobile makers are demanding a new Snapdragon chip with the company’s premium lineup and the 8-series, but it’s more affordable compared to the end price of the Snapdragon 888.
It thus becomes the true flagship successor of the 865, introduced last December, which we have already seen in high-end phones, in particular Xiaomi mi 11 and the new series Samsung galaxy s21.
The 870 is likely to appear in gaming-oriented mobile phones, in the same way that the Snapdragon 765G dominated the upper midrange market in 2020, and even appeared in some flagship models, including the Pixel 5 and the LG Velvet.
As the arrival of the first smartphones with this chip takes place, you can take a look at our ranking of best mobiles of the year.
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