On Thursday, Qualcomm announced that they are going to be working with Samsung on their next-generation flagship processor, the Snapdragon 835. That’s right, it’s not the Snapdragon 830, but rather the Snapdragon 835. Samsung will be manufacturing the new chipset on their 10nm FinFET process. Qualcomm mentioned that this partnership shows their continued dedication in the mobile industry and being a technology leader in the industry. The Snapdragon 835 will also be one of the first mobile processors out there that was manufactured on a 10-nanometer process, which is pretty significant in its own right.
The chipset manufacturer stated that they are “excited to continue working together with Samsung in developing products that lead the mobile industry.” Additionally, by using the 10-nanometer process node, they expect it to “allow our premium tier Snapdragon 835 processor to deliver greater power efficiency and increase performance while also allowing us to add a number of new capabilities that can improve the user experience.”
Samsung is the first in the industry to use the 10-nm FinFET process, so it makes sense for Qualcomm to go to Samsung for the Snapdragon 835. One of the main advantages to using a smaller process is the fact that the actual chip will be smaller than something like the Snapdragon 820. This allows manufacturers to make thinner devices, or add more battery in the same space. On top of that, 10-nm is more power efficient than a 14-nm process. And that’s something that is always important to the end user. While manufacturers are still adding bigger and bigger batteries, making the processor more efficient will also lead to better battery life. Another major advantage to using a 10nm process is the fact that performance will be higher than it was on the Snapdragon 820, about 27% to be exact.
The Snapdragon 835 is actually in production now, and Qualcomm is expecting commercial devices with the new SoC to ship in the first half of 2017. The Snapdragon 835 will be replacing the Snapdragon 820 and Snapdragon 821 as their flagship processor. Qualcomm also announced that there are over 200 designs in development with both of these chips, that debuted this year and powered the majority of flagship smartphones like the HTC 10, LG G5, Samsung Galaxy S7, Xiaomi Mi 5 and many others.