Specs appeal: Comparing the Snapdragon 865 to the Snapdragon 855

At its Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui today, Qualcomm announced its next-generation chipset, the Snapdragon 865. The new Mobile Platform packs a ton of new features, such as on-device AI, and an array of camera features.

For the first time, your phone will be able to recoard 8K video at 30fps, or record 4K video with Dolby Vision HDR. You can also record slow motion 4K video for the first time at 120fps, and for those that love HD slow motion at 960fps, there's no longer a split-second time limit on it. You can record 960fps for as long as your device's available storage will allow.

Naturally, there are a bunch of performance improvements. In fact, for the first time, OEMs will be able to ship GPU driver updates through the Google Play Store. But in terms of specs, what's different from last year's Snapdragon 855? Let's take a look:

	Snapdragon 855	Snapdragon 855+	Snapdragon 865
CPU	2.84 GHz octa-core Kryo 485	2.96GHz octa-core Kryo 485	2.84GHz octa-core Kryo 585
GPU	Adreno 640		Adreno 650
Process	7nm
AI Engine	AIE CPU: Qualcomm Kryo 485 CPU AIE GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 640 GPU AIE DSP: Qualcomm Hexagon 690 Processor, Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant, Qualcomm All-Ways Aware technology		AIE CPU: Qualcomm Kryo 585 CPU AIE GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU AIE DSP: Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Sensing Hub, Qualcomm Hexagon 698 Processor, Qualcomm Hexagon Scalar Accelerator
DSP	Qualcomm Hexagon 690 Processor, Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant, Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), Qualcomm All-Ways Aware technology		Qualcomm Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX)
FastConnect	Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Subsystem: Qualcomm FastConnect 6200 Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 5.1 Wi-Fi 6-ready features: Dual-band simultaneous (DBS), Target Wakeup Time, 8x8 sounding, WPA3 security support 60 GHz Wi-Fi features: Always-on Wi-Fi sensing, Wire-equivalent latency		Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Subsystem: Qualcomm FastConnect 6800 60 GHz Wi-Fi features: Always-on Wi-Fi sensing, Wire-equivalent latency Bluetooth Features: 1-to-many Bluetooth broadcast, Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo, Bluetooth 5.1, Qualcomm aptX Voice audio for super wide band voice calls, Qualcomm aptX Adaptive Wi-Fi 6 features: MU-MIMO (Uplink and Downlink), 8x8 sounding, OFDMA (Uplink and Downlink), 1024 QAM, Dual-band simultaneous (DBS), WPA3 security support, Target Wake Time
Cellular modem	Qualcomm Snapdragon X24 LTE modem, Snapdragon X50 5G Modem-RF System		Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G modem-RF system
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi Standards: 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11ax-ready, 802.11ac Wave 2, 802.11a/b/g, 802.11n Wi-Fi Spectral Bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 60 GHz Peak Speed: 10 Gbps Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6-ready technology features: Dual-band simultaneous (DBS), Target Wakeup Time, 8x8 sounding, WPA3 security support Qualcomm 60 GHz Wi-Fi technology features: Always-on Wi-Fi sensing, Wire-equivalent latency
USB	USB 3.1, USB-C
Camera	Image Signal Processor: Qualcomm Spectra 380 image signal processor, Hardware accelerator for computer vision (CV-ISP), Dual 14-bit CV-ISPs Dual Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 22 MP Single Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 48 MP Single Camera: Up to 192 MP Camera Features: HEIF photo capture Slow Motion Video Capture: 720p @ 480 FPS Video Capture Formats: HDR10, HLG, HEVC Video Capture Features: Rec. 2020 color gamut video capture, Up to 10-bit color depth video capture		Image Signal Processor: Qualcomm Spectra 480 image signal processor, Hardware accelerator for computer vision (CV-ISP), Dual 14-bit CV-ISPs Dual Camera, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 25 MP Single Camera, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 64 MP Single Camera: Up to 200 MP Camera Features: HEIF photo capture Slow Motion Video Capture: 720p @ 960 FPS Video Capture Formats: Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HEVC Video Capture Features: 4K video capture with simultaneous 64MP photo capture, Rec. 2020 color gamut video capture, Up to 10-bit color depth video capture
Video	H.265 (HEVC), HDR10+, HLG, HDR10, H.264 (AVC), VP8, VP9		Dolby Vision, H.265 (HEVC), HDR10+, HLG, HDR10, H.264 (AVC), VP8, VP9
Display	Max On-Device Display: 4K Ultra HD Max External Display: 4K Ultra HD HDR: HDR10+ Color Depth: Up to 10-bit Color Gamut: Rec2020		Max On-Device Display: 4K @ 60 Hz, QHD+ @ 144 Hz Max External Display: 4K @ 60 Hz HDR: HDR10+, HDR10 Color Depth: Up to 10-bit Color Gamut: Rec2020
Audio	Audio Technology: Qualcomm TrueWireless Technology, Qualcomm Broadcast Audio technology, Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology, Qualcomm aptX audio technology Qualcomm aptX audio playback support: Qualcomm aptX Adaptive		Audio Technology: Qualcomm Hexagon Voice Assistant Accelerator, Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec up to WCD9385, Qualcomm Aqstic smart speaker amplifier up to WSA8815, Qualcomm Aqstic audio technology
Memory	Memory speed: 2133MHz Memory Type: 4x16bit, LPDDR4x		Memory speed: 2750MHz Memory Type: 4x16bit, LPDDR5

As you can see, there are a lot of big changes here, including the Kryo 585 CPU, the Adreno 650 GPU, and support for LPDDR5 memory. Note that this information comes from Qualcomm's own spec sheets, so there are some limitations, being that the company doesn't share clock speeds of things like the GPU and the ISP. The clock speed on the Adreno 640 in the Snapdragon 855+ is certainly higher than the one in the 855.

If you're a fan of Samsung, this is all stuff that's worth paying attention to. Samsung will be one of the first to use the Snapdragon 865, and the key new features that Qualcomm is showing off are going to land in the Galaxy S11. Either way, next year should be a pretty exciting year for Android smartphones, no matter which feature you care about.

Qualcomm sponsored the travel and accommodations for Neowin to attend Snapdragon Technology Summit.