At the CES 2017, Qualcomm launched a new chipset under its Snapdragon lineup - the Snapdragon 835, which is a successor to the Snapdragon 820. With this new chipset, smartphone makers will be able to execute their plans for future-ready phones. The Snapdragon 835 is an advanced chipset, which checks all the requirements boxes for a desirable new age smartphone - Bigger, Better, Thinner, and with Long-lasting battery. The new chipset is designed to cater other segments of tech as well, such as Connectivity, Virtual Reality, and Photography.
At the launch, Qualcomm claimed that the new chipset utilises 25 percent less power than last year’s chip - Snapdragon 820, which increases the every day run time by 2.5 more hours. The new Snapdragon 835 also features Quick Charge 4.0 and it is entirely compatible with USB Type-C standard seen on most of the recent flagships such as Google Pixel. Also, the Quick Charge 4.0 charges the phone 20 percent quicker than Quick Charge 3.0 and is also packed with a safeguard against overcharging. Qualcomm touts that the Quick Charge 4.0 can offer “5 hours of use from just 5 minutes of charging.”
Better Battery Management
Qualcomm also touted that the Snapdragon 835 comes with 50 percent power compression. The chipset utilises 10nm fabrication technology, which is a first in Snapdragon lineup. The 10nm fabrication is best suited for thin smartphones with large batteries. In addition to the battery enhancement, the SD 830 also comes with improved support for VR and 3D graphics as it renders 60 times more colours and better audio output than the last year's SD 820. It means that we could see SD 835 making its way to standalone VR headsets as well.
Enhanced Support for Camera Features
Qualcomm also focused on camera features enhancement with the SD 835; the new chipset comes with improved support for image capture, which also includes optical zoom systems and autofocus technologies. Also, there is enhanced electronic image stabilisation for video-recording. The SD 835 is one of its kind in the lineup as it also provides for Ultra HD 4K Premium video playback including HDR 10.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon lineup has been the top used chipset for Android flagships. With the latest SD 835, Qualcomm is aiming at capturing other zones of technology such as Virtual Reality. The performance of the SD 835 will be out in the open as soon as the first wave of flagships launches with it, around spring.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Specifications
- Kryo 280 CPU with four performance cores running at up to 2.45 GHz and four efficiency cores running up to 1.9GHz
- Snapdragon X16 LTE modem with support for Category 16 LTE and Category 13 LTE upload speeds
- 2x2 11ac MU-MIMO
- 802.11ad Multi-gigabit Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth 5
- Adreno 540 GPU with support for OpenGL ES 3.2, full OpenCL 2.0, Vulkan, and DX12
- Hexagon 682 DSP with HVX
- Qualcomm All-Ways Aware™ technology with support for the Google Awareness API
- dual-channel LP DDR4x memory at 1866MHz
- Qualcomm Location with support for GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, and QZSS systems
- up to 32 MP single and 16 MP dual-camera with Qualcomm Spectra 180 ISP, 2x ISP, 14-bit, hybrid autofocus (laser/contrast/structured light/dual-phase detection AF), Qualcomm® Clear Sight™, optical zoom, hardware accelerated face detection and HDR video recording
- 4K Ultra HD video capture @ 30 fps, up to 4K Ultra HD video playback @ 60 fps, support for H.264 (AVC) and H.265 (HEVC)
- Ultra HD Premium™ ready, 4K @60fps, wide color gamut support, 10-bit color depth
- Quick Charge 4
- Qualcomm Aqstic™ WCD9341 audio codec with support for audiophile grade DAC with 32-bit/384kHz
- 10nm FinFET technology
