The multinational communications giant, Qualcomm, based in San Diego, California, this month launched their hotly anticipated new Snapdragon 810 chip, rumoured to revolutionise smartphone performance.
The new Snapdragon 810 chip is set to power phones, tablets and phablets in the near future, and in multi core performance tests run by respected tech site Tech Radar, the Snapdragon 810 chip scored an impressive 4733 (compare this number to the iPhone 6 Plus' lacklustre score of 2911, and the Samsung Galaxy S5's score of 2905). Essentially, this means that any phone or tablet capable of running using this new technology would be the world's fastest, in the absence of any major developments from Apple or others.
The Snapdragon 810 is also considerably more power efficient than current market leaders, with Tech Radar's tests showing just an 11% drop in battery reserves over 45 minutes of medium to heavy use: think reading webpages, playing music, typing, and playing games. This was especially impressive given that the test was undertaken not on a phone but on a tablet with a highly demanding 4K screen. The 45 minutes of constant use saw a temperature rise, in common with other smartphones and tablets, but with a final temperature of 39 degrees celcius, the Snapdragon 810 could be described as rather warm, but not be accused of overheating, as some have feared.
While devices running the Snapdragon 810 chip are not yet available to buy, next month's MWC (Mobile World Conference, the industry's biggest expo, due to be held this year from the 2nd to the 5th of March in Barcelona) is expected to reveal new tech products which may be capable of running the Snapdragon 810. With HTC hosting a “special event” in Barcelona on 1st of March, and other revelations expected from the likes of Samsung, Sony (with a potential flagship release); LG (again with a possible flagship offering); Microsoft; Huawei; Honor; and smaller companies such as Oppo, ZTE and OnePlus, the burgeoning technology market is alive with possibilities for this exciting new piece of technology.
With a press release earlier in February from Qualcomm, the makers of the Snapdragon 810 chip, announcing that there are plans in the works to partner up with Sony and Microsoft, it seems likely that future models of the Xperia and Lumia phones -particularly the high-end models- will feature this new technology, offering users a novel smartphone experience.
With incredibly fast data speeds, Qualcomm's innovative new Snapdragon 810 chip promises to change user experiences with smartphones and tablets forever. But will the companies involved harness the new technology to its full advantage, or will Apple manage to pull a coup this year too? Whatever happens, our eyes are firmly on the MWC in Barcelona: 2015 looks set to be a vintage year for smartphone technology and progress.