Recently, China Mobile released the 2021 Intelligent Hardware Quality Assessment Report. The report evaluates the comprehensive capabilities of 5G mobile phones listed from June to December 2021, involving 25 products of 11 brands, divided by 3 price segments, which are more than 4000 yuan, 2500 yuan-4000 yuan, and less than 2500 yuan.
As for the evaluation system, it is divided into four dimensions: communication capability, product availability, multimedia capability and user reputation, including 15 key indicators and 116 test indicators.
The results of the actual evaluation are shown in the following figure:
Judging from the results of the actual evaluation, there is a very significant feature that the terminal equipped with the Snapdragon mobile platform occupies a very large number of seats, and 10 of the 15 mobile phones that are finally on the list are from the Snapdragon mobile platform. The other 5 models are from Apple and MediaTek platforms.
Among the Snapdragon mobile platform mobile phones on the list, there are products with different brands and different levels of Snapdragon chips, such as honor Magic3 Pro, Xiaomi MIX 4, vivo X70 Pro+ equipped with Snapdragon 888 Plus, Honor Magic3 equipped with Snapdragon 888, realme GT Neo2 equipped with Snapdragon 870, Honor 60 Pro equipped with Snapdragon 778G Plus, And Xiaomi Civi, Honor 60, and Xiaomi 11 equipped with Snapdragon 778G Youth Vitality Edition, OPPO K9s.
These excellent products from different brands and different levels show us the comprehensive and leading comprehensive capabilities of the Snapdragon mobile platform, as well as significant leadership in the terminal market.
Snapdragon mobile platform, comprehensive leading leadership
China Mobile's evaluation report evaluates from the four dimensions of communication capabilities, product availability, multimedia capabilities and user reputation, and the specific evaluation indicators cover various core points of view such as terminal performance, communication, imaging, screen, power consumption, etc., which can reflect the strong comprehensive capabilities of the Snapdragon mobile platform.
For example, in terms of performance, the Snapdragon mobile platform has a highly optimized custom CPU core Kryo CPU designed by Qualcomm for heterogeneous computing, and since the Snapdragon 820 began to use this self-developed CPU core, the performance and power consumption of The Kryo CPU has been leading the Android mobile phone camp. One of its strengths is the ability to combine scheduling with different functional cores on a system-on-chip (SoC), such as CPU, GPU, and digital signal processor (DSP) cores, enabling unprecedented performance and power savings over using the same core for different tasks.
At the same time, for kryo CPUs on flagship mobile platforms, they can be brought to market every year with the most advanced process technology and leading core architecture, bringing powerful performance. For example, among the mobile phones on this list, the Kryo 680 CPU of the flagship Snapdragon 888 mobile platform is the industry's first mobile platform that adopts the ARM Cortex X1 architecture.
Another important component of performance is the GPU. The Adreno GPU of the Snapdragon mobile platform has always been well-known in the Android camp. Adreno GPU was born in 2011, the development has more than a decade of technology accumulation, each generation of Adreno GPU in the continuous improvement of graphics processing computing performance at the same time, will continue to introduce the most advanced graphics processing technology. For example, in last year's Snapdragon 888 mobile platform, the Adreno 660 GPU introduced VRS real-time variable resolution rendering technology for the first time in the industry.
Among the products on the list this time, honor Magic3 Pro is equipped with the most high-end Snapdragon 888 Plus mobile platform, we will take its actual performance as an example, this phone in the running of the mobile game "Original God" with the name of performance killer, the 30-minute game market can maintain an average frame rate of 51.1 fps, which is really an amazing level last year.
In terms of communication, the Snapdragon mobile platform has the blessing of a powerful Snapdragon modem, and China Mobile's special emphasis in this evaluation report is the 5G communication capability, which is also one of the important advantages of the Snapdragon modem. They completed the world's first 5G data connection in 2017, and the world's first 5G mobile phone, the Samsung Galaxy S10, used Qualcomm's Snapdragon X50 modem.
Since the start of 5G commercial deployment in 2019, Snapdragon modems have been the vanguard of the commercial popularization of 5G mobile phones, and they have improved the experience of 5G terminals through a series of technologies such as 5G PowerSave, Smart Transmit technology, broadband envelope tracking technology and Signal Boost, making 5G mobile phones practical and easy to use.
Not only that, the Snapdragon mobile platform also has a complete 5G solution from modem to antenna, which allows operators to consider many problems less when deploying networks, and also enables module manufacturers and terminal manufacturers to complete product design faster. All kinds of advantages have accelerated the process of commercial deployment of 5G.
In terms of the performance of 5G connections, Snapdragon modems have also been at the forefront of the industry, such as the mobile phone products listed in this evaluation report, the Snapdragon X60 used in the flagship Snapdragon 888 mobile platform is the first baseband to provide millimeter wave and Sub-6GHz carrier aggregation and Sub-6GHz TDD-FDD carrier aggregation 5G solutions, which can provide up to 7.5Gbps downlink and 3Gbps uplink At that time, the world's fastest commercial 5G network speed. It is globally compatible with millimeter wave and Sub-6GHz bands, as well as global multi-SIM cards, standalone networking, non-standalone networking, FDD, TDD and dynamic spectrum sharing.
In terms of imaging, the Snapdragon mobile platform has a powerful Spectra ISP image information processor. Spectra ISP also began to appear in the Eyes of the Snapdragon 820 mobile platform, and has since become an important contributor to the continuous evolution of Android mobile phone imaging capabilities. For example, the Spectra ISP in 2017 made improvements in biometrics and high-resolution 3D depth sensing technology, which laid the foundation for the popularity of dual cameras and later triple and quad cameras.
Today, the imaging capabilities of smartphones are already very powerful, especially the importance of computational photography, and Spectra ISPs play a very key role in it.
In terms of power consumption, solving heat generation and reducing energy consumption is a systematic project. For the Snapdragon 8 mobile platform, in addition to the significant upgrade of energy efficiency in each generation of Kryo CPUs and Adreno GPUs, the intelligent scheduling of computing resources is also a key means to reduce the overall power consumption of the system. This has to mention the AI engine of the Snapdragon mobile platform. The basic logic of the AI engine is to make full use of the computing power resources of the CPU, GPU, ISP and other computing modules in the SoC, and to work together with the Hexagon processor to perform AI operations, which is itself a very low-power AI implementation. With the AI engine, the new generation of Snapdragon 8 mobile platform can intelligently allocate computing resources in the face of high-load scenarios such as games, thereby greatly reducing the power consumption of terminals and bringing consumers a better battery life experience.
Of course, the role of the Snapdragon AI engine is far more than reducing power consumption, and there have been many details of it before the IT home, so I will not expand here.
In addition to having comprehensive and powerful technical capabilities, the Snapdragon mobile platform has formed a rich product matrix in the long-term upgrade iteration, from the flagship Snapdragon 8 series to the high-end 7 series, and then to the Snapdragon 6 series and the entry-level Snapdragon 4 series, the rich mobile platform product portfolio covers all levels of smart phone terminals, on the one hand, it promotes the full popularization and large-scale deployment of 5G, on the other hand, it also brings consumers a wealth of purchase options.
This is also why we can see that in this evaluation report of China Mobile, the terminal of the Snapdragon mobile platform can have very good products in all price segments.
Not only that, Qualcomm takes the Snapdragon mobile platform as the core, extensively connects terminal mobile phone manufacturers, cooperates with each other in depth, and spends a lot of energy to work with terminal manufacturers to adjust chips when each generation of Snapdragon mobile platforms are launched in the market, helping terminal manufacturers to maximize the performance and technical characteristics of the Snapdragon mobile platform and fully release their potential. Qualcomm and OPPO, vivo, xiaomi, ZTE and other domestic mobile phone manufacturers jointly promoted the "5G pilot plan" and cooperated with each other in depth, which also fully demonstrated the strong leadership of the Snapdragon mobile platform.
All in all, the Snapdragon mobile platform does have a strong comprehensive capability, leading technical performance, in all aspects of the smartphone experience is very comprehensive, at the same time, Qualcomm and major terminal manufacturers continue to deepen cooperation, has formed a solid and prosperous industrial ecology around the Snapdragon mobile platform, which explains why in this China Mobile evaluation report, Snapdragon mobile platform products will have such excellent performance.
The Snapdragon 8 gives me more confidence in this year's phone
It is worth noting that the representative brands in the current list, such as Xiaomi, Honor, vivo iQOO, realme, etc., have released a number of new flagship mobile phones equipped with a new generation of Snapdragon 8 mobile platform, with Snapdragon 8 in the connection, imaging, AI, gaming, audio and security and other aspects of the all-round capabilities, to provide users with the ultimate comprehensive experience.
Snapdragon 8 embodies the strongest performance and most advanced technology of Snapdragon and the entire industry, and builds on a series of leading technical capabilities we introduced earlier.
For example, in terms of CPU, this year's Snapdragon 8 uses a new Kryo CPU, based on the latest ARMv9 architecture, using Samsung 4nm process technology, and more Cortex-X2 core support, the overall performance is increased by 20%, energy efficiency is increased by 30%, and the computing performance is very excellent.
At the same time, the new generation of Adreno GPUs on the Snapdragon 8 has improved graphics rendering capabilities by 30% and energy efficiency when gaming by 25%, which is excellent. Adreno GPUs also have a variety of features, including several optimizations to the Vulkan graphics driver, which improves mobile gaming performance by up to 60%, and support for the Adreno GPU control panel, VRS Pro, and updatable GPU drivers.
In terms of network connectivity, the Snapdragon 8 uses a 4th generation Snapdragon X65 5G modem and RF system. It is the world's first modem and RF system to support downlink 10Gbps 5G rates, which means that it can achieve more than 10 Gigabit speeds for the first time in a 5G environment. In addition, the Snapdragon X65 uplink can also reach a transmission rate of 3.5Gbps. In addition, the Snapdragon X65 is also the first modem and RF system to comply with the 3GPP Release 16 specification.
In terms of Wi-Fi, the Snapdragon 8 integrates the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 network solution, and the Wi-Fi speed doubles to 3.6Gbps.
Earlier we also talked about the AI capabilities of the Snapdragon mobile platform. The new generation snapdragon 8 integrates the 7th generation Qualcomm AI engine in terms of AI. The 7th generation Qualcomm AI engine focuses on improving the performance of hexagon processors, doubling performance while doubling shared memory. In the application of AI, the 7th generation Qualcomm AI engine supports better autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance (3A) and detail on images, as well as advanced features such as AI-based video background bokeh.
In terms of imaging, the Snapdragon 8 has also made a strong upgrade, and the new Spectra ISP is the first ISP in the Qualcomm Spectra series to support 18-bit, and the first smartphone ISP to support 18-bit ISP. 18-bit technology surpasses the configuration of many professional cameras, affecting data items up to 4096 times higher than before. It's also powerful in its crazy pixel throughput, which captures 3.2 billion pixels per second, 19% faster than its predecessor, and he can capture 1.08 pixels at 30fps with a single camera, or 36 million pixels at 30fps each of the three cameras. Or, press the keys to capture 240 12-megapixel images in a single second.
In low-light environments, the new 18-bit Spectra ISP also supports the Super Multiframe Engine, capable of capturing 30 images and combining them into one photo. Photos taken in low-light conditions will have super sharpness, super rich colors, and super brightness.
In terms of video shooting, the Spectra 18-bit ISP will be the first to support 8K HDR video shooting on smartphones, while 8K HDR video can also be shot in HDR10+ format, and compared to the previous generation, Spectra ISP power consumption is reduced by up to 50% in HDR10+ video shooting scenarios.
In addition to imagery, but also audio, Snapdragon 8 began to support CD-quality lossless wireless music, ultra-clear voice calls, low-power audio and other technologies in terms of audio, and made special enhancements to game audio, shifting additional CPU tasks to Qualcomm Hexagon processors for processing, thereby freeing up CPU load, enabling it to provide better audio quality through features such as ultra-high sound quality sound and 360-degree spatial audio.
It can be said that Snapdragon 8 has a full range of upgrades compared to the previous generation, and the experience improvement points in AI, security, audio, games, images, etc. are very rich, which is actually reflected in the Snapdragon 8 flagship mobile phone that has been launched so far, and these products have their own outstanding selling points on top of the basic use experience, which makes people very confident in the new flagship mobile phone to be released this year.
epilogue
It can be said that China Mobile's 2021 intelligent hardware quality evaluation report provides a good opportunity to show us the important impact of the Snapdragon mobile platform on the Android smartphone terminal experience at present, this impact is all-round, it unites major terminal manufacturers to provide consumers with excellent terminal experience covering all price points and different levels. Intelligent life is already the most basic happiness indicator at present, and the Snapdragon mobile platform, and the ecology behind it, is the escort of this happiness.