Qualcomm have managed to keep pace with the ever-changing mobile phone landscape. Even though they have released the flagship ready Snapdragon 855 for this years flagship phones, they’ve decided to do one better with the gaming phone specific Snapdragon 855+ processor. Within the same year, Qualcomm has managed to outdo themselves and bring even more to the table for the high-end mobile phones.
The Kryo 485 CPU in the Snapdragon 855 Plus runs faster at up to 2.96GHz. This is a 4.2% performance improvement in comparison to the Snapdragon 855 that runs at 2.84Ghz. Graphics wise, the Adreno 640 GPU in the 855+ processor is clocked 15% faster than the GPU inside the Snapdragon 855 processor.
Regarding benchmark results, in recent days two 855+ packing smartphones have been tested and still come up short to the Samsung Mongoose M4 and Apple A12. These GeekBench results do not rate the GPU performance and obviously those results are what really matter when it comes to the Snapdragon 855+.
Even with its reported 5,800mAh battery, extending battery life is always welcome news. In terms of the Snapdragon 855+, Qualcomm says that the Vulkan 1.1 Graphics Driver runs off 20% less power than Open GL ES. Time will tell when it comes to real-world battery savings so let’s wait for reviews of the ROG Phone II before getting too excited.
Gaming phones is still a niche and unproven market but clearly Qualcomm sees the potential. Boosting graphical performance while making the processor more power efficient is exactly what’s needed for this niche market to grow.
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