Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. unveiled the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 870 5G Mobile Platform, a follow-on to the flagship Snapdragon 865 Plus, which features an enhanced Qualcomm® Kryo™ 585 CPU prime core clock speed of up to 3.2 GHz. The new Snapdragon 870 is designed to deliver increased performance across the board for geared-up gameplay with insanely fast Qualcomm® Snapdragon Elite Gaming™ experiences, truly global 5G sub-6 GHz and mmWave, and ultra-intuitive AI.
“Building upon the success of Snapdragon 865 and 865 Plus, the new Snapdragon 870 was designed to address OEM and mobile industry requirements,” said Kedar Kondap, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Snapdragon 870 will power a selection of flagship devices from key customers including Motorola, iQOO, OnePlus, OPPO, and Xiaomi.”
3.2% clock speed increase is the only difference versus last-gen’s Snapdragon 865 Plus.
In fact, the 870 is based entirely on last year’s Snapdragon 865 Plus. The only difference is the increase in the Prime CPU core clock speed. Up from 3.1GHz in the 865 Plus to 3.2GHz in the 870, which is a rather minor 3.2% change. Remember, the Snapdragon 865 Plus was just a faster version of the Snapdragon 865. Meaning the Snapdragon 870’s feature set is plucked entirely from 2020.
That being said, the Snapdragon 865 Plus offers a 10% CPU and GPU improvements over the Snapdragon 865. The Snapdragon 870 still benefits from that performance improvement over a number of 2020 flagship handsets that didn’t feature the Plus chipset variant. We didn’t see too many Snapdragon 865 Plus smartphones launched in 2020, so the Snapdragon 870 will still provide a small performance bump over a number of last-gen handsets. Although no-where near the 30-40% performance improvements promised by the Snapdragon 888.
Snapdragon 870 vs Snapdragon 888 specs
| Snapdragon 888 | Snapdragon 870 | Snapdragon 865 Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Config | 1x 2.84GHz (Cortex-X1) 3x 2.4GHz (Cortex-A78) 4x 1.8GHz (Cortex-A55) |
1x 3.2GHz (Cortex-A77) 3x 2.4GHz (Cortex-A77) 4x 1.8GHz (Cortex-A55) |
1x 3.1GHz (Cortex-A77) 3x 2.4GHz (Cortex-A77) 4x 1.8GHz (Cortex-A55) |
| GPU | Adreno 660 | Adreno 650 | Adreno 650 |
| DSP | Hexagon 780 (fused scalar, tensor, and vector) |
Hexagon 698 | Hexagon 698 |
| Process | 5nm | 7nm FinFET | 7nm FinFET |
| Camera support | • 200MP single shot • 84MP single with zero shutter lag • 64MP+25MP with zero shutter lag • Triple 24MP with zero shutter lag • Hybrid AF • 10-bit HEIF image capture • HDR video • multi-frame noise reduction • Real-time object classification, segmentation, and replacement |
• 200MP single shot • 64MP with zero shutter lag • 25MP dual camera with zero shutter lag • Hybrid AF • HDR video • multi-frame noise reduction • Real-time object classification, segmentation, and replacement |
• 200MP single shot • 64MP with zero shutter lag • 25MP dual camera with zero shutter lag • Hybrid AF • HDR video • multi-frame noise reduction • Real-time object classification, segmentation, and replacement |
| Video capture | 8K @ 30fps 4K UHD @ 120fps 720p @ 960fps |
8K @ 30fps 4K UHD @ 120fps 720p @ 960fps |
8K @ 30fps 4K UHD @ 120fps 720p @ 960fps |
| Video playback | 8K 4K HDR up to 120fps H.265 and VP9 video decoder 360 degree |
8K 4K HDR up to 120fps H.265 and VP9 video decoder 360 degree |
8K 4K HDR up to 120fps H.265 and VP9 video decoder 360 degree |
| Charging | Quick Charge 5 | Quick Charge 4+ Quick Charge AI |
Quick Charge 4+ Quick Charge AI |
| Modem | X60 LTE/5G (integrated) 7500 Mbps down 3000 Mbps up |
X55 LTE/5G (external) 7500 Mbps down 3000 Mbps up |
X55 LTE/5G (external) 7500 Mbps down 3000 Mbps up |
| Other networking | Bluetooth 5.2 Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), 802.11a/b/g/n |
Bluetooth 5.1 Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), 802.11a/b/g/n |
Bluetooth 5.1 Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), 802.11a/b/g/n |
Key OEM Quotes
“At Motorola, we strive to deliver meaningful innovations that matter to our consumers, and we are glad to announce that soon we will bring the new Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform into our portfolio, unleashing the power of our smartphones to new and unique experiences,” said Sergio Buniac, president, Motorola Mobility. “With this platform, we also reinforce our commitment with 5G technology, as network expands across the globe we continue to do so in our portfolio.”
“By working closely with the world’s leading technology innovators like Qualcomm Technologies, we have been continuously building superior products and bringing premium mobile experiences to global users,” said Kinder Liu, chief operating officer and head of R&D, OnePlus. “The flagship performance and exceptional 5G connectivity provided by the Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform coupled with OnePlus’ unique innovative technologies and optimization, we look forward to delivering lightning-fast 5G speeds and ultra-smooth mobile experiences to more users.”
“OPPO and Qualcomm Technologies have maintained close collaboration, and we have jointly introduced many products favored by users,” said Alen Wu, vice president and president of global sales, OPPO. “Following our principle of ‘technology for mankind, kindness for the world’ and leveraging the premium performance delivered by the new Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform, OPPO will deliver more human-centered products to global consumers and meet their expectations for cutting-edge technologies.”
“Meeting users’ demands for high performance has always been the mission of iQOO. With the unveil of the new Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform, we will provide powerful performance and top e-sports experiences to users as always in our next iQOO smartphone,” said Zeng Kunpeng, general manager, iQOO Product Line. “We believe our cooperation with leading technology companies like Qualcomm Technologies will further drive the development of the mobile gaming ecosystem.”
“Over the past years, Xiaomi’s flagship smartphones that have been powered by Snapdragon 8-series mobile platforms have impressed global consumers with their premium performance and excellent experiences,” said Lei Zhang, vice president of Mi Smartphone and general manager of hardware R&D, Xiaomi, “For next decade, we will continue to work closely with Qualcomm Technologies to bring the most advanced mobile experiences to Mi Fans. Benefitting from the powerful performance of the new Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform, we will continue to build high-end flagship device and bring more surprises to global consumers regarding 5G, camera, AI, and more.”
Commercial devices based on Snapdragon 870 are expected to be announced in the first quarter of 2021. For more information about the Snapdragon 870, please visit: https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon-870-5g-mobile-platform.
