Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 officially announced

The new 4th-generation AI engine still relies on a combination of CPU, GPU and Hexagon cores but according to Qualcomm it is now 2x faster than the Huawei Kirin 980. The other 7nm chip out in the wild, the Apple A12, should also be slower. Both of these chips use dedicated NPUs to handle tasks and therefore could have an advantage when the CPU and GPU are also in use (e.g. for gaming). 

The other big new feature that was announced was the Spectra ISP, which will have the world's first computer vision hardware integrated with it. 

On top of that, Qualcomm also mentioned support for the new Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor. This under-display ultrasonic fingerprint sensor should be very secure as it takes a 3D image of the finger and won't be affected by oily or wet fingers.

Lastly, the "Snapdragon Elite Gaming" feature was teased, which should combine performance, audio and battery life for an improved gaming experience.

The first smartphone with the Snapdragon 855 and a 5G modem should be from Samsung and will be released in the first half of 2019. Samsung also showed an early prototype, but told us the overall look and design can and will be changed.

More information on the Snapdragon 855 should be released over the next few days during the Snapdragon Technology Summit.

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