Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 Performance Preview
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 21, 2014 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Snapdragon
- Qualcomm
- Mobile
- SoCs
- Snapdragon 805
Final Words
Qualcomm tends to stagger the introduction of new CPU and GPU IP. Snapdragon 805 ultimately serves as Qualcomm's introduction vehicle for its Adreno 420 GPU. The performance gains there over Adreno 330/Snapdragon 801 can be substantial, particularly at high resolutions and/or higher quality settings. Excluding 3DMark, we saw a 20 - 50% increase in GPU performance compared to Snapdragon 801. Adreno 420 is a must have if you want to drive a higher resolution display at the same performance as an Adreno 330/1080p display combination. With OEMs contemplating moving to higher-than-1080p resolution screens in the near term, leveraging Snapdragon 805 may make sense there.
The gains on the CPU side are far more subtle. At best we noted a 6% increase in performance compared to a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801, but depending on thermal/chassis limitations of shipping devices you may see even less of a difference.
Qualcomm tells us that some of its customers will choose to stay on Snapdragon 801 until the 810 arrives next year, while some will choose to release products based on 805 in the interim. Based on our results here, if an OEM is looking to specifically target the gaming market I can see Snapdragon 805 making a lot of sense. For most of those OEMs that just launched Snapdragon 801 based designs however, I don't know that there's a huge reason to release a refresh in the interim.
I am curious to evaluate the impact of ISP changes as well as dive deeper into 4K capture and H.265 decode, but that will have to wait until we see shipping designs. The other big question is just how power efficient Adreno 420 is compared to Adreno 330. Qualcomm's internal numbers are promising, citing a 20% reduction in power consumption at effectively the same performance in GFXBench's T-Rex HD onscreen test.
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evonitzer - Friday, May 23, 2014 - link
+1 -- I amazed how quickly people have tired of smartphone innovation. Bring on the pixels! I'm still young(ish) and can resolve details quite well. I'm hoping for magazine level smoothness with no blockiness.lmcd - Friday, June 20, 2014 - link
...which is why we need color accuracy and gamut, a greater range of brightness settings, better refresh rates, and less ghosting and less burn-in.But not higher pixel density.
YouInspireMe - Saturday, May 24, 2014 - link
Because if they have to be able to drive BIG displays with the phone they may as well be able to brag about being able to do it ON the phone. And everyone will eventually have to be able to drive BIG screens OFF the phone.pjcamp - Thursday, May 22, 2014 - link
Scrolling performance on my old Galaxy S3 became perfectly snappy -- as soon as I ditched Touchwiz. All these stupid skins are the limiting factor, and there's really no purpose for them any more other than product differentiation.metayoshi - Thursday, May 22, 2014 - link
Yup. That Snapdragon S4 was more than good enough for basic AOSP Android. TouchWiz really killed the performance on that thing. I mean, I know more people with a Nexus 4 than a Nexus 5, simply because the S4 Pro is good enough to run Google's Android. I personally have a Nexus 5 because it's compatible with Sprint, and should have Triband with the whenever-it-comes 4.4.3 update. I used to upgrade my phone every time I had the chance, but I actually don't think I'll be upgrading as long as my Nexus 5 is in good working condition. SoC improvements aren't really that exciting for me anymore.Babar Javied - Thursday, May 22, 2014 - link
I am in the same boat. I upgraded to the Nexus 5 from the Galaxy Nexus since it was getting old. I don't see myself upgrading anytime soon. Not only is the SoC more than enough to handle what I want, it has plenty of RAM and the screen is great too. All of this with no bull-sh!t skins like touch wiz and you have what I feel to be a great phone.So I really hope google does not shutdown the Nexus division.
betam4x - Thursday, May 22, 2014 - link
I don't think they will. People i know are divided into 3 groups: iPhone Users, Samsung users, and Nexus users. Others do exist, but for the most part, Google's phones seem to be pretty popular.betam4x - Thursday, May 22, 2014 - link
I'm in the same (happy) boat. Downgraded from the Galaxy S III (rooted, unlocked, Cyanogenmod) to the Moto-X (republic wireless). My phone lasts 20-24 hours with pretty decent usage (screen is on 3-4 hours a day, always browsing the internet on this thing...) My Moto-X isn't rooted or unlocked, but it's the most enjoyable phone i've ever owned...and i'm a spec freak.betam4x - Thursday, May 22, 2014 - link
btw the reason the phone lasts so long on battery is due to republic wireless operating over wifi. when wifi is on, cellular modem is off...apparently the cell modem is a power hog on any phone.Eddie A - Saturday, May 24, 2014 - link
Too bad indeed. It seems they couldn't (or didn't have time to) re-engineer it in time to add an LTE modem (since the 805 doesn't include one). I believe it still should run smooth though...the 801 is still a beast. My Nexus 7 2013 for example has a resolution which is slightly lower than the G3's resolution with a lesser SoC (Snapdragon S4 Pro) and it flies with no lag/stutter at all, so my fingers are crossed. Yes it's somewhat disappointing but I'm still looking forward to having the G3 in my hands for the next couple of years.