Any links to online stores should be assumed to be affiliates. The company or PR agency provides all or most review samples. They have no control over my content, and I provide my honest opinion.
I won’t lie, I have been fawning over Huawei a lot recently with the Kirin 980 SoC being the most powerful mobile processor on the market, and the Mate 20 Pro being what I think is the best phone currently on the market.
This has largely been due to the fact that the Qualcomm flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 845, is nearly a year old now which is positively ancient in the mobile space.
However, the tides could be set to turn with the launch of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8150 on the 4th of December in Hawaii during the Qualcomm annual tech summit (I think my invite got lost in the mail).
As it currently stands we are unsure if it will retain the existing naming convention and go with Snapdragon 850 or use the oft rumoured new branding of Snapdragon 8150.
Rumours suggest that the new chip will adopt a similar core layout to the Kirin 980 and the recently announced Exynos 9820, where they move into a tri-cluster arrangement with eight cores in total.
The recent leak suggests a slightly different approach to the other companies and this will have:
- One Kryo Gold Prime core with a 512KB L2 cache clocked at 2.842GHz
- Three Kryo Gold cores with a 256KB L2 cache per core with a maximum frequency of 2.419GHz
- Four low-power Kryo Silver cores with a 128KB L2 cache per core clocked at 1.786GHz.
It is extremely likely that the Gold Prime and Gold cores will be based on the ARM Cortex-A76, while the silver cores are probably Cortex-A55 based.
If this is true this would give a similar arrangement to the Kirin 980 which also uses four A76 cores in total with four A55 for its low powered cores.
The main difference is that the Snapdragon 8150 will have a single core clocked at 2.842GHz verses two at 2.6Ghz on the Kirin. Then three middle cores are 2.419GHz versus the two 1.92Ghz. So this should theoretically offer much better single core performance over the Kirin.
Early leaks indicate that the Snapdragon 8150 is fractionally behind the Kirin 980 in single core but ahead in multi-core using the GeekBench test. The leaked scores being:
Geekbench multi-core
- Snapdragon 8150 – 10,084
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro w/Kirin 980 – 9,712
- Google Pixel 3 XL w/Snapdragon 845 – 8,088
Geekbench single-core
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro w/Kirin 980 – 3,291
- Snapdragon 8150 – 3,181
- Google Pixel 3 XL w/Snapdragon 845 – 2,363
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.
