Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 865 processor is built ‘exclusively’ for 5G phones 

Qualcomm has anunced its next high-end flagship processor, aka Snapdragon 865, at its annual Tech Summit in Hawaii. Snapdragon 865 will replace Snapdragon 855/snapdragon 855+ and you can expect it to power major high-end flagship phones, from likes of OnePlus to Samsung, coming in 2020. But that’s t what Snapdragon 865 processor will go down in history for. 

Even though its predecessor(s), Snapdragon 855/Snapdragon 855+, came with 5G support, Snapdragon 865 is Qualcomm’s first high-end flagship processor built ‘exclusively’ for 5G phones. re’s a small caveat though, Snapdragon 865 processor does t come with an integrated 5G modem. Rar, as Verge reports, Qualcomm will be offering Snapdragon 865 and a second-generation X55 modem as a ‘pack deal’ to manufacturers like OnePlus and Samsung. Apparently, you can’t just slap on a 4G modem to it and make a 4G phone out of new Snapdragon 865. 

This is very similar and yet very dissimilar to outgoing Snapdragon 855/Snapdragon 85+ that let manufacturers opt for 4G for ir x, y, or z reasons, and also selectively pick original X55 modem in case y were looking to build a 5G phone. 

Having an integrated solution – modems, graphics and what have you – has many advants, but more importantly, it doesn’t take as much toll on system resources and, in some cases, it is also more affordable. t to mention, it’s going to take up extra . While we’re still to see how all this pans out in an actual product, it’s a little odd that Qualcomm didn’t choose to go with an integrated 5G modem, at a time when it’s going all gung-ho about 5G. 

Snapdragon 765, Snapdragon 765G also anunced – with integrated 5G  

What adds to all oddity is that Qualcomm is also anuncing relatively more mid-tier and mainstream Snapdragon 765 and Snapdragon 765G processors alongside Snapdragon 865 – both of which pack an integrated 5G modem. To put it simply, Snapdragon 765 and Snapdragon 765G will truly support 5G out-of--box.  

As opposed to Snapdragon 865-powered flagships, phones powered by Snapdragon 765/Snapdragon 765G-powered phones are expected to hit shelves sooner. This is because Qualcomm has already confirmed that phones powered by its mid-tier Snapdragon 7 Series 5G mobile platform will be ready for prime time by end of this year – this was anunced at IFA 2019. 

Qualcomm has also previously anunced that as many as twelve partner OEMs will be integrating Snapdragon 7 Series 5G mobile platform in ir future 5G mobile devices – including Oppo, Realme, Xiaomi’s Redmi, Vivo, Motorola, HMD Global (for kia smartphones) and LG. Xiaomi’s Redmi sub brand will be among first few OEMs to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 765 processor in its upcoming Redmi K30 – that's slated to launch in China on December 10.  

We already kw that Snapdragon 7 Series 5G mobile platform will be based on a 7nm manufacturing process and come with “5G integrated into a SoC (System-on-Chip) and support all key regions and frequency bands.” Additionally, upcoming platform is also said to bring “select premium-tier features, including next-gen Qualcomm AI Engine and select Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gaming features, to a broader audience.” 

As is usually case with all such Qualcomm anuncements, company will drop more ‘technical’ details about Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 765/Snapdragon 765G processors in next few days.   

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