Notebookcheck
 
 
 
 

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro

Qualcomm SD 821

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 is a high-end ARM-based SoC largely found on Android tablets and smartphones. Announced in mid 2016, the S820 is the successor to the Snapdragon 820 and from a technical perspective a higher clocked version of the SoC. In addition to 4 CPU cores (two slower clocked and two faster clocked Kryo cores), the SoC integrates an Adreno 530 GPU with a LPDDR4 memory controller  and supports Wi-Fi (802.11ad + MIMO), Bluetooth 4.1, and LTE.

CPU

The Snapdragon 821 is based on a similar concept as ARM's big.LITTLE, which combines a low power CPU cluster (2x Kyro clocked at up to 1.6 GHz?) and a performance CPU cluster (2x Kyro clocked at up to 2.4 GHz). The clock speed of each cluster can be individually adjusted (but not per core) and the lowest clock speed is 310 MHz. The performance cluster features 1.5 MB L2 cache and the power saving one 512 KB. Both should be using the same architecture and fully support the ARMv8-ISA instruction set.

Although only four cores are used, the performance of the 821 is located in the high end of mobile CPUs for smartphones and tablets. The performance advantage of the 821 compared to the 820 depends on the used clock speed. E.g. in the Google Pixel, the SoC is only clocked at 2.15 GHz and therefore identical to many 820 SoCs.

GPU

The Adreno 530 outperforms the previous Adreno 430 especially in high demanding benchmarks. Therefore it is well suited of modern 3D games on Android devices and should rank slightly below the Tegra X1 GPU. Compared to the 530 in the 820, the 821 version should be up to 5 % faster, which speaks for a slightly higher clock speed.

Features

The Snapdragon 821 offers numerous wireless technologies such as Bluetooth 4.1, WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ad (60 GHz) + MIMO as well as a dual-SIM cellular modem supporting LTE cat. 12/13 .

The SoC can encode and decode 4K videos using dedicated hardware (H.264 and H.265).

Power Consumption

Thanks to the new 14 nm process, the energy efficiency has been improved noticeably compared to its 20 nm predecessors.

SeriesQualcomm Snapdragon
CodenameKryo
Series: Snapdragon Kryo
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro2.4 GHz4 / 4 Kryo
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 compare2.2 GHz4 / 4 Kryo
Clock Rate2400 MHz
Level 2 Cache1.5 MB
Number of Cores / Threads4 / 4
Manufacturing Technology14 nm
FeaturesAdreno 530, LTE Hexagon 680 DSP, UMTS, GSM, WCDMA, Dual-SIM, eMMC 5.0, UHS-I, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz) + MIMO, Bluetooth 4.1, USB 3.0, Dual-Channel LPDDR4 Memory Controller
GPUQualcomm Adreno 530 ( - 653 MHz)
64 Bit64 Bit support
ArchitectureARM
Announcement Date10/01/2016
Product Link (external)Qualcomm Snapdragon SD 821

Benchmarks

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Physics
0 Points (0%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme Physics
0 Points (0%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Physics
min: 15027     avg: 21197     median: 22353.5 (23%)     max: 22860 Points
+ 10 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Unlimited Physics
min: 1665     avg: 1968     median: 2028 (25%)     max: 2109 Points
+ 9 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
3DMark - 3DMark Sling Shot (ES 3.0) Unlimited Physics
min: 1493     avg: 1916     median: 2009 (35%)     max: 2123 Points
+ 9 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Geekbench 4.0 - Geekbench 4.0 64 Bit Single-Core
min: 1482     avg: 1675     median: 1685.5 (26%)     max: 1881 points
+ 6 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Geekbench 4.0 - Geekbench 4.0 64 Bit Multi-Core
min: 3983     avg: 4164     median: 4201.5 (10%)     max: 4292 points
+ 6 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Single-Core
min: 1746     avg: 1827     median: 1834.5 (23%)     max: 1891 points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
min: 3327     avg: 4102     median: 4356 (7%)     max: 4369 points
+ 4 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Kraken 1.1 Total Score *
min: 2399.8     avg: 2832     median: 2616.9 (4%)     max: 4141 ms
+ 10 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Octane V2 - Octane V2 Total Score
min: 5511     avg: 9098     median: 9493 (14%)     max: 10506 Points
+ 10 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Vellamo 3.x - Vellamo 3.x Metal
min: 2938     avg: 3334     median: 3334 (89%)     max: 3730 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Vellamo 3.x - Vellamo 3.x Multicore Beta
min: 3235     avg: 3254     median: 3253.5 (72%)     max: 3272 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
Vellamo 3.x - Vellamo 3.x Browser
min: 6032     avg: 6152     median: 6151.5 (81%)     max: 6271 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AnTuTu v6 - AnTuTu v6 Total Score
min: 138072     avg: 147293     median: 149386 (51%)     max: 159866 Points
+ 10 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 MEM
min: 5377     avg: 6815     median: 6006 (18%)     max: 9063 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 UX
min: 35656     avg: 39007     median: 39646 (49%)     max: 41720 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 GPU
min: 56935     avg: 61408     median: 58997 (18%)     max: 68292 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 CPU
min: 32615     avg: 45268     median: 49601 (30%)     max: 53589 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
AnTuTu v7 - AnTuTu v7 Total Score
min: 142395     avg: 152499     median: 156176 (28%)     max: 158926 Points
+ 3 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
PassMark PerformanceTest Mobile V1 - PerformanceTest Mobile CPU Tests
215105 Points (28%)
+ 1 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
PCMark for Android - PCM f. Android Computer Vision
min: 2947     avg: 3112     median: 3111.5 (16%)     max: 3276 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
PCMark for Android - PCM f. Android Storage
min: 2983     avg: 3426     median: 3426 (11%)     max: 3869 Points
+ 2 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
PCMark for Android - PCM f. Android Work Score 2.0
min: 5152     avg: 5648     median: 5437 (36%)     max: 6461 Points
+ 5 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
PCMark for Android - PCM f. Android Work Score
min: 4739     avg: 5697     median: 5440.5 (27%)     max: 7659 Points
+ 10 benchmarks and specifications   + Show comparison chart
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

Add one or more devices and compare

In the following list you can select (and also search for) devices that should be added to the comparison. You can select more than one device.

restrict list:

show all (including archived), 2021, 2020
v1.16

Reviews for the Qualcomm Snapdragon SD 821 processor

Asus ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.70")
» Asus ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL Smartphone Review - Review
» Asus ZenFone 3 Deluxe ZS570KL - External Review

Asus ZenFone AR ZS571KL (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.70")
» Asus ZenFone AR (ZS571KL) Smartphone Review - Review
» Asus ZenFone AR-ZS571KL - External Review

Google Pixel XL 2016 (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.50")
» Google Pixel XL Smartphone Review - Review
» Google Pixel XL 2016 - External Review

HTC U Ultra (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.70")
» HTC U Ultra Smartphone Review - Review
» HTC U Ultra - External Review

LeEco Le Pro 3 (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.50")
» LeEco Le Pro 3 - External Review

Lenovo ZUK Edge (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.50")
» Lenovo ZUK Edge - External Review

LG G Pad 5 10.1 inch (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 10.10")
» LG G Pad 5 10.1 inch - External Review

LG G6 (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.70")
» LG G6 Smartphone Review - Review
» LG G6 - External Review

LG G6 Plus H870DSU (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.70")
» LG G6 Plus H870DSU - External Review

LG G7 Fit (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 6.10")
» LG G7 Fit Smartphone Review - Review
» LG G7 Fit - External Review

OnePlus 3T (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.50")
» OnePlus 3T Smartphone Review - Review
» OnePlus 3T - External Review
» OnePlus 3 and 3T will now not get 8.1 – but they will get 9.0 -

Vivo Xplay 6 (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.70")
» Vivo Xplay 6 - External Review

Xiaomi Mi 5s (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.15")
» Xiaomi Mi 5s Smartphone Review - Review

Xiaomi Mi 5S Plus (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.70")
» Xiaomi Mi 5S Plus - External Review

Xiaomi Mi Mix (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 6.40")
» Xiaomi Mi Mix Phablet Review - Review
» Xiaomi Mi Mix - External Review

Xiaomi Mi Note 2 (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.70")
» Xiaomi Mi Note 2 - External Review

ZTE Axon 7S (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.50")
» ZTE Axon 7S - External Review

ZTE Axon M (Qualcomm Adreno 530, 5.20")
» ZTE Axon M Smartphone Review - Review
» ZTE Axon M - External Review

» Mobile CPU Comparison
Comparison of all mobile CPU series

» Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist
Benchmarklist of all known CPUs that are used in laptops (desktop and laptop CPUs)

Other CPUs of the series Snapdragon

» Microsoft SQ1
   8x 3 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx
   8x 2.84 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G
   8x 1.8 GHz - 2.84 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ (Plus)
   8x 2.42 GHz - 3.1 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
   8x 2.42 GHz - 2.84 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
   8x 2.84 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 850
   8x 2.96 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
   8x 2.8 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
   8x 1.8 GHz - 2.4 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 765
   8x 1.8 GHz - 2.3 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G 5G
   8x 1.8 GHz - 2.2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G
   8x 1.7 GHz - 2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G
   8x 2.3 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G
   8x 2.2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 730
   8x 2.2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G
   8x 2.3 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 675
   8x 2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (8998)
   8x 2.45 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 712
   8x 2.3 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 710
   8x 2.2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 670
   8x 2.02 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 665
   8x 2.2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 662
   8x 1.8 GHz - 2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
   8x 2.2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 636
   8x 1.8 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 632
   8x 1.8 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 460
   8x 1.8 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 630
   8x 2.2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 626
   8x 2.2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 625
   8x 2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 439
   8x 2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 450
   8x 1.8 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 429
   4x 2 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 435
   8x 1.4 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 8930AB
   2x 1.7 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8230
   2x 1.2 GHz
» Qualcomm 205
   2x 1.1 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 MSM8660
   2x 1.7 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 MSM8260
   2x 1.5 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 MSM8255
   1x 1.5 GHz
» Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 MSM7227
   1x 0.6 GHz

Surrounding CPUs

+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 710
   8x 2.2 GHz
+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 670
   8x 2.02 GHz
+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 665
   8x 2.2 GHz
+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 662
   8x 1.8 GHz - 2 GHz
+ Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
   8x 2.2 GHz
- Samsung Exynos 7885
   8x 2.2 GHz
- UNISOC Tiger T618
   8x 1.8 GHz - 2 GHz
- Mediatek Helio G85
   8x 2 GHz
- Mediatek Helio G80
   8x 2 GHz
- Mediatek Helio G70
   8x 2 GHz
Please share our article, every link counts!
> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > Benchmarks / Tech > Notebook Processors > Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro SoC
Klaus Hinum (Update: 2016-10-18)