Qualcomm has just revealed the details of its new Snapdragon 845 mobile processor, which will show up in smartphones and laptops starting soon. The Snapdragon 845 is the direct successor to 2017’s 835, which proved to be wildly popular for flagship Android smartphones. Like its predecessors, the 845 is not just a processor, but a combination of processors and systems, such as a CPU, GPU, ISP, and DSP, all landed on a single unit.
The biggest innovative feature for last year was the ability to capture 4K video in HDR at up to 60 frames per second. The 845 can also shoot slo-mo 720p video at 480 frames per second and 240 frames per second 1080p video. For still photography, the 845’s Spectra 280 ISP can perform multi-frame noise reduction on 16-megapixel images at 60 frames per second.
Video possibilities
The Snapdragon 845 is expected to be available in smartphones as early as spring 2018, and will likely appear on devices from Samsung, HTC, LG, Google, and others. It will also make its way to Windows 10 PCs by the end of the year. The Qualcomm Spectra 280 ISP is designed to deliver a premium camera and XR experience, with a high-performance capture of up to 16 MP at 60 images per second. Video enthusiasts will appreciate cinema-like quality video thanks to ultra HD premium capture with richer color. Other video features that it will bring along:
-Ultra HD premium capture
-Qualcomm Spectra Module Program, featuring Active Depth Sensing
-MCTF video capture
-Multi-frame noise reduction
-High-performance capture up to 16MP @60FPS
-Slow motion video capture (720p @480 fps)
-ImMotion computational photography
-30% improved graphics/video rendering and power reduction compared to previous generation
-Room-scale 6 DoF with SLAM
-Adreno foveation, featuring tile rendering, eye tracking, multiView rendering, fine grain preemption
-2K x 2K @ 120Hz, for 2.5x faster display throughput
-Improved 6DoF with hand-tracking and controller support
Performance
Through heterogenous computing, the Snapdragon 845’s new architectures are being built to transform the user experience while providing significant improvements in performance and battery life. The new camera and visual processing architectures will help Snapdragon 845 deliver up to 30 percent power reduction for video capture, games and XR applications compared to the previous generation. Graphics performance and power efficiencies will also garner up to a 30 percent improvement as a result of the new Adreno 630, compared to the previous generation. The new Qualcomm Kryo 385 architecture, built on Arm Cortex technology, will see up to 25 percent performance uplift across gaming, application launch times, and performance-intensive applications compared to the previous generation.
Also, the energy-efficient Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform is engineered for all-day battery life and includes our Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ technology—capable of up to a 50% charge in only 15 minutes, so even the most demanding applications can run all day long.
