Snapdragon 820 processor to boost power on future smartphones

PanARMENIAN.Net - There's a whole host of new flagship phones reportedly on the horizon, with everything from the Samsung Galaxy S7 to the Sony Xperia Z6 tipped to make an appearance in early 2016.

Many of these upcoming devices are expected to run the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset. And, if early tests are anything to go by, this unit will offer far more power than you know what to do with, Digital Spy said.

"The lovechild of Jeremy Clarkson and Tim Allen's need for more power, the Snapdragon 820 processor smashed all the benchmark tests we put it through at a preview event," Digital Spy said.

Using a 6.2-inch developer handset with the 820 chip paired with 3GB of RAM, the upcoming chip left everything from the Nexus 6P to the iPhone 6S in its wake.

Now, benchmark tests don't answer all the questions of how a handset will perform, but they offer a pretty good indication.

So, just how powerful is this thing? Well, running the Geekbench 3 app, which tests the processing power of the chip, the Snapdragon 820 scored a whopping 5472.

To give this a bit of context, that's not just the first device we've seen top a score of 5,000, it's seconded only by the Samsung Galaxy S6 with a comparatively lowly score of 4850.

And it's not just the Geekbench tests that the Snapdragon 820 chip has bossed, either.

Currently topping the charts of the AnTuTu benchmark tests is the indomitable iPhone 6S - with the Apple handset's A9 chip rocking a score of 123567.

Well, that used to be the case - Qualcomm's new chip just hit a score of 132302.

Like we said, benchmark tests aren't a failsafe guarantee of quality, but it's looking likely that the 2016 breed of flagship phones will offer more grunt than ever.

The first consumer-available handsets running the new Snapdragon 820 chipset will hit retailers during the first quarter of 2016, possibly debuting as early as CES in the first week of January.