Snapdragon 845 Vs 855 – Which One Should You Buy?

Snapdragon has consistently been one of the leading choice of processors for several prominent smartphone manufacturers. To cater to the consumers’ ever-expanding demands, they continually develop and release newer upgrades of its processors. As a result, it is hard to keep track of and choose among the various processors. To help clear the air, we have prepared an easy to follow analysis of Snapdragon’s 2 popular processors– Snapdragon 845 and 855. 

To give you a rough idea of the main differences between the 2 processors, do look at the brief comparison table before heading to the in-depth analysis.

The Key Differentiation

Snapdragon 845 Vs 855 comparison

So, let us get started! Here are the 8 main differences between the Snapdragon 845 and Snapdragon 855:

1. The Fabrication Process

Manufactured in 10 nm LPP FinFET, The Snapdragon 845 processor is a sophisticated system on a chip (SoC) that came into the market in early 2018. 

On the other hand, Snapdragon 845 processor hit the market in the 1st quarter of 2019 and features Qualcomm’s 1st 7nm FinFET chip. The smaller process node makes way to use smaller chips that leads to greater energy efficiency and performance.

2. CPU performance

The next point of comparison is CPU performance. In the case of Snapdragon 845, the chipset features a Kryo 385 octa-core CPU. Out of the 8 cores, 4 are Cortex A75-based and clocked at 2.8GHz. The remaining 4 cores are Cortex A55-based and clocked at 1.7GHz. The 4+4 core configuration has brought about a 28.73% improvement in speed over its predecessor- the Snapdragon 835.

Coming to the Snapdragon 855, it features a Kryo 485 octa-core CPU. Its entry marks the launch of the company’s1st tri-cluster CPU design. In simple terms, this means that instead of the traditional 4 large and 4 small core design configurations, the Snapdragon 855 features 1 huge, 3 big, and 4 small cores. This results in a significant boost in performance over Snapdragon 845’s Cortex A75 based cores.

The largest core of Snapdragon 855 is Arm Cortex A76 based and has a clock speed of 2.84GHz. The 3 bigger cores are Cortex A76 based but have a clock speed of 2.42 GHz. The smaller cores are Cortex-A55 based and have a clock speed of 1.8 GHz. 

3. GPU performance

Moving on GPU performance, the Snapdragon 845 comes with Adreno 630 GPU. In contrast, the Snapdragon 855 features the latest Adreno 640 GPU. This upgrade has resulted in a 20 percent increase in performance.  

Unlike the Snapdragon 845, the newer version supports Dolby Vision formats and HDR10+. It also offers support for 8K-360-degree videos and 120fps gaming. Therefore, you can play high-end games on Snapdragon 855 with a significantly lower battery penalty. 

4. Artificial Intelligence

Snapdragon 845 and Snapdragon 855 are both AI-powered. However, there is a difference. While the former comes with the 3rd Generation version of the Hexagon 685 DSP AI engine, the latter comes with the 4th generation Hexagon 690 DSP AI engine.

In fact, the Snapdragon 855 is Qualcomm’s 1st chipset that comes with a dedicated AI engine. It has a new voice assistant module that gives accurate search results. As per Qualcomm, the performance has gone up 3 times when compared to the previous generation products.

5. Camera

The Snapdragon 845 with the Spectra 280L ISP has brought about a new imaging experience to smartphones. Users can easily shoot 4K videos at 60fps. It supports a 32-megapixels single camera at 30 FPS, 16 MP dual-camera at 30 FPS, and 16 MP single camera at 60 FPS.

With the Snapdragon 855, Qualcomm has gone a step ahead. The new chipset features Spectra 380 ISP, which is more power-efficient and consumes up to 30% less power than Snapdragon 845. It also supports depth sensing in real-time when recording videos at 60 FPS. As a result, users can add bokeh effects to their videos. Apart from these, Qualcomm has also provided support HEIF codec. It is thus possible to reduce the size of the picture without compromising on the quality.

6. Connectivity 

Let us now talk about connectivity. The Snapdragon 845 features an X20 LTE modem that employs LTE Cat. 18. It offers a maximum download speed of 2 Mbps and a maximum upload speed of 150Mbps.

On the other hand, the Snapdragon 855 features an X24 LTE modem that makes use of LTE Cat.20. It offers a maximum download speed of 2 Mbps and a maximum upload speed of 316 Mbps. 

7. Storage and RAM

Moving on to the storage features, the Snapdragon 845 comes with UFS 2.1 storage type, while the Snapdragon 855 comes with UFS 3.0 storage type. Coming to the RAM specifications, Snapdragon 855 comes with LPDDR4X- 2133 RAM, whereas the Snapdragon 845 comes with LPDDR4X-1866 RAM.

Based on the above specifications, the Snapdragon 855 score points over Snapdragon 845 in this department.

8. Battery life

Battery life is a critical consideration for smartphones. After all, there is no point in owning an expensive smartphone if it barely stays alive throughout the day. 

As per reports published by Qualcomm, Snapdragon 855 outperforms Snapdragon 845 by a whopping 45% and thus has longer battery life. Therefore, the Snapdragon 855 undoubtedly has a huge edge over the Snapdragon 845.

Conclusion

Although the Snapdragon 855 boasts of many enhanced features, we cannot term the performance of Snapdragon 845 as sluggish. It is a powerful processor that delivers high-quality performance.

However, the latest features of Snapdragon 855 will draw the attention of gamers as the higher frame rate will offer a more stimulating experience. Therefore, base your pick on what you will be using your phone for. 

There are many points to consider before buying a smartphone. However, the processor of the phone is a crucial parameter to consider. We hope that the article has helped you understand the critical differences between the Snapdragon 845 and Snapdragon 855. 

If you have any comments, please do share your views in the comments section.