Apart from Qualcomm’s flagship chipset, Snapdragon 888, the company has also introduced its budget 8 series processor this year, dubbed Snapdragon 870. The new 870 5G Mobile Platform is actually an improved Snapdragon 865+ Mobile Platform (with a clock speed boost) that was unveiled back in July 2020. The latest chipset sits between last year’s flagship SD865+ and the current flagship SD888. We have already seen phones with both Snapdragon 865 and 870 in the market. So, you should know their differences in terms of CPU, GPU, etc, performance before buying those devices.
Snapdragon 870 vs Snapdragon 865
CPU
Both Chipsets are built on TSMC’s 7nm (N7P) node with an octa-core setup and 1+3+4 core arrangement. We see a single primary ARM Cortex A77 core based on Kryo 585 for high performance on both SoCs. However, the Snapdragon 870 is assigned to run at 3.2 GHz, while Snapdragon 865’s clock speed has been set at 2.84 GHz. The remaining three mid-performance cores (Kryo 585 at 2.42GHz) and four efficiency cores (Kryo 385 at 1.8GHz) are the same for both SoCs. The latest 870 chip brings over a 12% CPU boost compared to the 865 chip.
GPU
In terms of GPU, both Snapdragon 870 and 865 packs Adreno 650 GPU. However, the former runs on 587 MHz, while the latter has a maximum frequency of 670 MHz. The GPU inside the 870 offers a 10% performance boost over the 865 Chip.
| SoC | Snapdragon 870 | Snapdragon 865 |
|---|---|---|
| Process | TSMC 7nm (N7P) | TSMC 7nm (N7P) |
| CPU | 1x Cortex A77 @ 3.2GHz 3x Cortex A77 @ 2.42GHz 4x Cortex A55 @ 1.80GHz | 1x Cortex A77 @ 2.84GHz 3x Cortex A77 @ 2.42GHz 4x Cortex A55 @ 1.80GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 650 @ 670MHz | Adreno 650 @ 587MHz |
| DSP/NSP | Hexagon 698 15 TOPS AI | Hexagon 698 15 TOPS AI |
| Camera | Spectra 480 ISP (Dual 14-bit) Single 200MP 64MP ZSL or 2x 25MP ZSL 64MP burst capture 4K video | Spectra 480 ISP (Dual 14-bit) Single 200MP 64MP ZSL or 2x 25MP ZSL 64MP burst capture 4K video |
| Modem | External Snapdragon X55 LTE Category 24/22 | External Snapdragon X55 LTE Category 24/22 |
Benchmark Tests
In the Antutu benchmark test, Snapdragon 870-powered Motorola Edge S scored 680826 points while Xiaomi’s Mi 10, which is run on Snapdragon 865, has managed to achieve only 585232 points. So, clearly, we see that the Snapdragon 870 is better than the 865 as the score is 95594 points higher (+16.33%).
It should be noted that Motorola Edge S comes with Turbo LPDDR5 RAM (72% faster than LPDDR4) and UFS 3.1 storage technology (25% faster than UFS 3.0). So, Motorola Edge S can score additional points compared to the Mi 10. That high score is not only because of the SD870 SoC but also because of improved RAM and storage tech.
