Interestingly, the same source was referring to the upcoming chip as Snapdragon 895 until a few weeks back. However, it appears they have gathered some new information recently. According to the Weibo post, the Snapdragon 898 will use an ARM Cortex-X2 primary CPU core operating at a maximum frequency of 3.09GHz. No other details were shared. But ARM had previously claimed that Cortex-X2 will bring about a 16 percent performance boost over the Cortex-X1 core found inside Snapdragon 888 and 888+. These two chipsets top up at 3.0GHz and 2.84GHz respectively. The upcoming Qualcomm processor could also use the other v9 cores that ARM announced alongside Cortex-X2 in May. We are talking about Cortex-A710 and Cortex-A510. Rumors have it that the Snapdragon 898 will have a 1+3+2+2 CPU cluster. That could mean one Cortex-X2 super core, three Cortex-A710 high-performance cores, two higher-clocked Cortex-A510 cores, and two more Cortex-A510 cores at a lower clock speed for low-power uses. Not just the CPU, the Snapdragon 898 should also bring improvements in other areas. With mobile cameras getting more powerful, you can expect Qualcomm to work on its Spectra ISP (image signal processor) as well as Hexagon DSP (digital signal processor). It will likely bring GPU improvements as well.
Snapdragon 898 could launch later this year
It’s unclear when Qualcomm plans to unveil the Snapdragon 898 (or whatever else it will be called). But if history is anything to go by, it could go official towards the end of this year. However, the new chipset might not ship inside devices until next year. The likes of Samsung’s Galaxy S22 series and Xiaomi’s Mi 12 series are the probable early candidates for it. The same source had previously claimed that Samsung will manufacture the Snapdragon 898 using its 4nm process nodes. There will also reportedly be a Snapdragon 898+ (like the Snapdragon 888+) that will arrive in mid-2022. It will also be a 4nm chip but Taiwan’s TSMC will manufacture it. You can expect it to bring subtle improvements in CPU performance over the vanilla 898. Time will tell what Qualcomm’s next-gen flagship smartphone SoC will be called.
