Announced in December last year, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 SoC is expected to power a number of upcoming flagship smartphones that will debut at the Mobile World Congress later this month. Roughly two weeks before the first Snapdragon 845-powered smartphones go official, the folks over at AnandTech have managed to put the latest Qualcomm flagship mobile SoC through its paces. As expected, the reference smartphone powered by the Snapdragon 845 chipset managed to deliver impressive results, especially when it came to graphics performance.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: Specifications
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset is being manufactured by Samsung on its second-generation 10nm LPP FinFET process node, bringing solid improvements both in terms of performance as well as efficiency. An octa-core chipset like its predecessor, the Snapdragon 845 uses four Kryo 385 Gold cores clocked at 2.8 GHz and four Kryo 385 Silver cores clocked at 1.8 GHz. According to Qualcomm, the Kryo 380 Gold cores are up to 30% faster than the Kryo 280 cores used in the Snapdragon 835. Taking care of graphics is the new Adreno 630 GPU that promises 30% faster graphics rendering and 30% higher power efficiency compared to the Adreno 540 GPU from last year. The Snapdragon 845 also includes the 3rd generation Hexagon 685 DSP that supports on-device AI processing. Another highlight is the all-new Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit (SPU) that has been designed to securely store personal data with vault-like security. In terms of connectivity, the chip integrates an X20 LTE model with Gigabit LTE support, 802.11ad multi-gigabit Wi-Fi and integrated 2×2 802.11ac. The snapdragon 845 mobile platform also includes the Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ technology, which promises up to a 50% charge in just 15 minutes.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: CPU Benchmark Performance
In the PCMark Work 2.0 – Web Browsing 2.0 benchmark, the Snapdragon 845 achieved a 20% higher score compared to the Snapdragon 835-powered Google Pixel XL 2, which is a decent improvement. The Kirin 970-powered Huawei Mate 10 Pro was also left behind, albeit by a smaller margin. Similar lead over the Snapdragon 835 is seen in other benchmarks such as PCMark Work 2.0 – Data Manipulation, PCMark Work 2.0 – Writing 2.0, PCMark Work 2.0 – Video Edition, and PCMark Work 2.0 – Photo Editing 2.0 benchmark tests. In the multi-platform WebXPRT 2015 – OS WebView test, the Snapdragon 845 manages to deliver a 44% higher score than the Pixel XL 2 but cannot compete against the Apple A11 chipset powering the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. It is a similar story in Speedometer 2.0 – OS WebView, where the Apple A11 and even the A10 scores higher than the Snapdragon 845.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845: GPU Benchmark Performance
When it comes to graphics performance, the Adreno 630 GPU appears to be a beast of a performer. In 3DMark Sling Shot 3.1 Extreme Unlimited – Graphics, 3DMark Sling Shot 3.1 Extreme Unlimited – Physics, and 3DMark Sling Shot 3.1 Extreme Unlimited – Overall tests, the Adreno 630 not only performs much better than the Adreno 540 but also leaves behind the A11 chip. However, the Adreno 630 doesn’t manage to beat the A11 in the GFXBench T-Rex 2.7 Off-screen and GFXBench Manhattan 3.1 Off-screen benchmarks. It still manages to outperform its predecessor by 31% and 48%, respectively, in the two tests. During their testing, the folks over at AnandTech found the reference Snapdragon 845 device to have impressive thermal performance as well, easily beating the Apple A11. This is certainly great news and should mean that most 2018 Android flagships will not suffer from any major overheating issues.
