Qualcomm introduces Snapdragon 855 Plus with higher clocked CPU and GPU cores

Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 855 Plus. The soc is the same as the existing version, but has a slightly higher clock speed for the cpu and gpu cores. In the second half of this year, devices with the Snapdragon 855 Plus soc will be released.

The Kryo 458 Gold core in the Snapdragon 855 Plus is clocked at 2.96GHz. That is 120MHz faster than with the regular Snapdragon 855, where that CPU core has a clock speed of 2.84GHz. The difference in clock speed is four percent. Probably Qualcomm makes the higher clock speed possible by choosing the best chips for the Plus model of the soc.

According to Qualcomm, the GPU of the 855 Plus performs fifteen percent better than that in the regular version. However, it is the same Adreno 640 GPU. With the soc released earlier this year, the gpu cores run at 585MHz, so it seems that the 855 Plus runs at 672MHz.

Qualcomm has released refreshes of its high-end soc more often. For example, last year’s Snapdragon 845 was succeeded by the Snapdragon 850, which was in fact the same soc with a slightly higher clock speed. That Snapdragon 850 was presented as a soc for Windows 10 devices; the new 855 Plus is not positioned that way.

Like the Snapdragon 855, the 855 Plus soc can be used in 5g smartphones, but manufacturers must add a separate 5g modem for that. Perhaps the new soc will come to high-end Android devices in the second half of the year. For example, Google will probably announce new Pixel devices and Samsung will introduce the Note 10, of which a Qualcomm version will probably appear next to the variant with its own Exynos soc.

Asus used a Snapdragon 845 in its ROG Phone last year that was clocked higher. However, that soc was not designated as a Plus model. With the focus on GPU improvements, the Snapdragon 855 Plus also seems to be a good candidate for new gaming smartphones.