I'm Back!: Snapdragon 888 Reaction

 

December 1st, 2020, Qualcomm announced the name and branding of their next flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 888. To make a long story short Qualcomm is promising 20% CPU gains, 35% GPU gains, and some changes to the image signal processor, AI engine, and 5G. Let's go deeper into each area starting with the star of the show: the Kryo 680 CPU & Adreno 660 GPU. 

CPU & GPU

Let's start with the CPU, the 888 is using ARM's new Cortex X1 cores along with regular but still powerful A78 cores and more efficient A55 cores. These three cores use the same 1+3 +4 architecture that was found in the 865, with the main core being the X1 running up to 2.84GHz, the 3 middle cores being the A78 running up to 2.4GHz, and the last 4 cores being the A55 up to 1.8GHz. Something I do need to mention is that these aren't unmodified cores, these cores have been lightly changed to fit the 888, so although these modifications don't affect the performance in a big way, they are similar but not the same cores you might see in a MediaTek Chipset.  

Image Source: Qualcomm 

The X1 is the true breakthrough of this processor, I am only going to speculate based on the coverage from other media firms because I have not seen any benchmarks or tests, so we will have to see how it turns out but right now the consensus is positive. Here is a quote from Android Central: 

"The Cortex X1 is an absolute beast — think of it as a turbocharged A78. Arm basically unshackled the A78 core from the thermal and efficiency limits, and in doing so created a design that can hold its own against the likes of Apple's A14 Bionic. The X1 is faster than anything we've seen on Android yet, and that should be exciting news for anyone looking to upgrade to a new phone next year."- Harish Jonnalagadda, https://www.androidcentral.com/qualcomm-snapdragon-888

So obviously the X1 is important, it's the ultra-performance core that comes in when the rest of the cores go to red alert, it gives that huge boost that helps to contribute to the parts of using a phone that just speed, speed, and more speed. There's never been a core as powerful as the X1 in any Qualcomm SoC, it's the true momentous change that might just give Apple a run for their money, I just hope it lives up to the promises.  

 In other news the 888 will support WI-FI 6 at up to 3.6Gbps along with 6GHz WI-FI (6E as well). We also have Qualcomm's AptX codecs, GPS, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.2. Also, like the 865 the 888 will support sub-6 5G and millimeter wave, but unlike the 865 the 888 has an integrated X60 modem that allows for more efficiency when using 5G. The X60 is on the same 5nm node as the Kryo 680 CPU meaning there will be huge gains in efficiency meaning you can stay on 5G longer and get 4G faster. All other 800-series SoC's that supported 5G had to use discrete modems to be able to connect, the 888 finally brings integrated to Snapdragon. 

 Now let's talk about the Adreno 660 GPU, the quick version is that the Adreno 660 brings 35% performance boost along with better sustained performance, there is a lot more than meets the eye to this GPU. Let's start with the boosts, the Adreno 660 can now do HDR gaming at 144fps, it also allows game developers to use variable rate shading that allows them to have more control over the frames. The other features include a higher sustained performance that should prevent thermal throttling in most phones and overdrive performance on phones with active cooling.  

There's also a new "Game quick touch" feature that, according to Android Central, should improve responsiveness by 20%. While most phones have increased refresh rate to improve performance and responsiveness the 888 supplies its own way to improve responsiveness without extra refresh rates. These features are made for gamers and those are the features that continue to be the allure that draws gamers toward Android, it also helps Qualcomm keep their gaming lead on Apple.  

 
 

 

ISP & AI Engine

Now there's a lot more to SoC than just the CPU and GPU, and the 888 has some huge features in the surrounding silicon that might mean more than you might think. 

Image credit: Qualcomm

So, let's start with the ISP, otherwise known as the image signal processor, the spectra 580. The spectra 580 is composed of three 14-bit ISP's that can handle 2.7 Gigapixels per second, which, according to various sources, is a 35% increase over the 865. The increase in gigapixels should help enhance night photography, there are also some improvements to burst mode and video. The 888 can now shoot 120 photos in 1 second and shoot 3 4K videos at once, all at 28 mega-pixels. It also supports 200 Mega-Pixel sensors, that really isn't something serious it is either futureproofing or a byproduct of the other enhancements because right now there is no use for 200MP right now. 

Image credit: Qualcomm

As for the burst mode and video features, I feel that video is the most important, Apple has gone big onto HDR video and the fact that Qualcomm now supports it could result in a better standard of video, especially with phones that have mediocre sensors. Most phones have terrible to mediocre image processing and being able to lean on Qualcomm should help improve photos right out of the box, the ISP is more important than you might think, and these gains could be the beginning of phones taking a bigger role in photography. 

Image credit: Qualcomm

Now let us talk about the Hexagon 780 AI Engine, now, it does not seem like much, but it is more futureproofing than anything else. So, the Hexagon 780 delivers 3x better performance-per-watt than its predecessor, it also goes to 26 trillion operations per seconds. So, what can that power be used for? The power is used for the sensors in the phone, it supplies and interprets the API's that allows developers to access the sensors and make use of them. That is one of the many use cases that Qualcomm cites in their article about the Hexagon 780, here is the link: https://www.qualcomm.com/news/onq/2020/12/02/exploring-ai-capabilities-qualcomm-snapdragon-888-mobile-platform 

Potential and Wrap-Up

So, what is the potential of the Snapdragon 888? The 888 has the potential to finally put Android over the top, since the A10 Apple has dominated the smartphone silicon space and last year was the year Qualcomm came close to beating the A13 with the 865. If the 888 can close the Gap that doesn't only mean success for Qualcomm, it means success for ARM as a whole. Qualcomm is using ARM's cores and if the Cortex X1 is authentic this could be the beginning of more powerful ARM SoC's. The 888 is shaping up to be the best SoC of 2021 and I could not be happier. 

 
 

Thank you for continuing to support the channel and blog through my break from writing.  

 

Best, BenTechCoder 

 

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