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Last year the Asus ROG Phone differentiated itself from the other gaming phones on the market with its binned Snapdragon 845 chipset with higher 2.96GHz clocks than the standard 2.8GHz.
This year things are different, Qualcomm has announced a specific Snapdragon 855+ chipset and multiple manufactures are on board to use it.
The Plus model is based on the same hardware as the Snapdragon 855 chipset. This means one “prime” core running at 2.96GHz (up from 2.84GHz), three other big cores (the A76-based Kryo 485 Gold) at 2.42GHz and then the four small cores.
The boost to the single high-performance core represents a 4.2% increase while the GPU has been improved by a more impressive 15%.
It is no surprise that the Asus ROG Phone 2 will be the first phone to feature the chipset, but now the Nubia Red Magic 3 has been confirmed there will be a special edition that uses the new high-performance SoC.
Furthermore, RealMe have indicated that they will also be teaming up with Qualcomm to launch a phone with the Snapdragon 855+, but at the moment there is no information on that phone.
New leaks show some of the performance that has been achieved with the ROG Phone 2. Benchmarked as the “asus ASUS_I001DC”, the ROG Phone 2 runs Android 9 Pie. It also has 12GB of RAM, though we expect there will be another RAM variant.
For the single-core test, the device scored 3616 points and scored 11,103 points in the multi-core test. This is just a bit higher than the average score of Snapdragon 855-powered phones.
This isn’t a large improvement, but Geekbench is CPU focussed, and the single-core has only been boosted by about 4%, and the Geekbench indicates around a 3% improvement. As expected there is less of a difference between the typical SD855 and SD855+ multi-core score.
The main differences will come from the GPU tests, and the moment there are no leaked benchmarks for this, so we will just have to wait and see.
| Snapdragon 855 | Snapdragon 855+ | Exynos 9810 | HiSilicon Kirin 980 | Exynos 9820 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Process | 7nm (N7) | 7nm (N7) | 2nd Gen 10nm FinFET | 7nm | 8 nm LPP (Low Power Plus) FinFET |
| CPU Cores | Octa-Core, 64-bit | Octa-Core, 64-bit | Octa-Core, 64-bit | Octa-Core, 64-bit | Octa-Core, 64-bit |
| CPU | 1x Kryo 485 Gold (A76) @ 2.84GHz 1x512KB 3x Kryo 485 Gold (A76) @ 2.42GHz 3x256KB 4x Kryo 485 Silver (A55) @ 1.80GHz 4x128KB | 1x Kryo 485 Gold (A76 derivative) @ 2.96GHz 1x512KB pL2 3x Kryo 485 Gold (A76 derivative) @ 2.42GHz 3x256KB pL2 4x Kryo 485 Silver (A55 derivative) @ 1.80GHz 4x128KB pL2 2MB sL3 | 4 x 2.9GHz Exynos M3 + 4 x 1.9GHz Cortex-A55 | 2x Cortex-A76 @ 2.6GHz 2x Cortex-A76 @ 1.92GHz 4x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz (4MB shared L3 cache) | 2x Custom CPU 2x Cortex-A75 4x Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Adreno 640 @ 585MHz | Adreno 640 @ ~672MHz | ARM Mali-G72 MP18 | Mali-G76 MP10 | ARM Mali G76 MP12 |
| NPU | Yes (Hexagon 690 DSP) | Yes (Hexagon 690 DSP) | No | Dual NPU | Yes |
| RAM | 4x 16-bit CH @ 2133 MHz LPDDR4x 34.1GB/s | 4x 16-bit CH @ 2133MHz LPDDR4x 34.1GB/s 3MB system level cache | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X @ 2133MHz | LPDDR4x |
| ISP | Dual 14-bit Spectra 380 ISP 1x 48MP or 2x 22 MP | Dual 14-bit Spectra 380 ISP 1x 48MP or 2x 22MP | Dual ISP | Dual ISP | Dual ISP |
| Video Playback & Codecs | 2160p60 10-bit H.265 HDR10, HDR10+, HLG 720p480 | 2160p60 10-bit H.265 HDR10, HDR10+, HLG 720p480 | MFC, Up to 4K @ 120FPS; 10-bit HEVC (H.265), H.264, VP9 | 4K @ 30fps - capture 4K @ 60fps playback | 2160p60 HEVC & H.264 Decode 2160p30 Encode HDR10 |
| Modem | Snapdragon X24 LTE (Category 20) DL = 2000Mbps 7x20MHz CA, 256-QAM, 4x4 UL = 316Mbps 3x20MHz CA, 256-QAM | Support for WiFi 6 standard (802.11ax) as well as the new 60GHz “Wi-Gig” 802.11ay, enabled by an external WiFi combo chipset. | LTE Cat. 18 6CA 1.2Gbps Download; LTE Cat. 18 2CA 200 Mbps Upload | LTE Cat 21 1.4Gbps down / 200Mbps up | LTE-A Cat.20 8CA (2Gbps download) Cat.20 3CA (316Mbps upload) |
| Wi-Fi | Support for WiFi 6 standard (802.11ax) as well as the new 60GHz “Wi-Gig” 802.11ay, enabled by an external WiFi combo chipset. | Wi-Fi ad, Multi-gigabit Wi-Fi ac/b/g/n with MU-MIMO | Dual-Band Wi-Fi ac/b/g/n with MU-MIMO | Hi1103 WiFi chip supports 1732Mbps with Wi-Fi and, Multi-gigabit Wi-Fi ac/b/g/n with MU-MIMO | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Charging | Quick Charge 4+ (USB PD Compatible) | Quick Charge 4+ (USB PD Compatible) | Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge, Fast Wireless Charging (Qi & PMA) | SuperCharge 4.5V / 5A low-voltage fast charging | Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge, Fast Wireless Charging (Qi & PMA) |
I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.
As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.
In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.
I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.
