Last year Qualcomm’s headline smartphone chipset was the Snapdragon 865, which was followed later in the year by the Snapdragon 865+. That second, upgraded processor hasn’t gone away just because the calendar has rolled over another digit in the year column. It’s hit the gym and emerged as the Snapdragon 870.

What’s the point of the Snapdragon 870?

The question you might be asking is: why? The answer isn’t as simple as ‘this is the new headline chipset for 2021’. That accolade goes to the Snapdragon 888, which gets its name thanks to superstition this year. It’s supposedly a lucky number to have in your life, which means your phone will be extra-fast this year, apparently.

According to the company, the chipset is intended for companies like Motorola, iQOO, OnePlus, OPPO, and Xiaomi — most of which are known for turning out more budget-minded handsets with a substantial amount of power. And you can count on anything toting a Snapdragon 870 to be more powerful than either the 865 or 865+ — by about three to six percent. The 870 is three percent quicker than the 865+ thanks for a slightly higher clock speed.

The tweaked chip’s main Prime Cortex A77 core runs at 3.2Ghz, which edges out the 865+’s 3.1GHz speeds. It should also launch with three more A77 cores, running at 2.4GHz, and then four A55 cores at 1.8GHz — which are the same specs seen in the chips this one is heavily ‘based on’. It’ll support both 4G and 5G, which are enabled by separate chips, just like its immediate predecessors.

The name change and incremental clock update might be little more than marketing spin for the new year but you can be sure of at least one thing — your just-under-flagship hardware with an 870 will outclass 2020’s flagships. That’s something to be proud of, surely?

Source: Ars Technica