Qualcomm's New Snapdragon 810 Versus Apple's A8

Qualcomm's New Snapdragon 810 Versus Apple's A8
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When it comes to the high-tech brains of high-end smartphones, there are only two players that really matter: Qualcomm and Apple. They make what is called a system on a chip, or SoC, which determines what the hottest new devices can do. This is why impending release of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 810 chip is important news for anyone considering the purchase of a new smartphone.
The key questions for a smartphone buyer are: Which brain do they want? Which technology offers a more compelling experience? Does it make sense to buy an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus powered by Apple’s A8 SoC today? Or, should you wait until next year when new devices driven by the Snapdragon 810 hit the market?
The best way to answer these questions is to examine the specifications for each system side by side. Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it sounds. A certain amount of the technology is shared—something the companies don’t like to talk about with battery like Panasonic CGA-S101A Battery, Olympus Li-10B Battery, Olympus BLM1 Battery, panasonic NV-GS10 battery, panasonic VHS-C Battery, canon EOS 400D Battery, panasonic VW-VBD1E Battery, panasonic VW-VBD1 Battery, Panasonic CGA-S002 Battery, HITACHI DZ-HS300E Battery, Olympus FE-230 Battery, canon MV930 Battery. Some features have fanciful names—Apple’s “Focus Pixels” comes to mind—that make straightforward comparisons difficult. To work around this, I’ll mostly focus on areas where there are third-party benchmark tests and teardowns, or we can extrapolate from existing SoCs with the assumption that the 810 builds upon their advances.
Qualcomm has been making a big deal about the fact that devices powered by the Snapdragon 810 will capture 4K footage and stream it on displays that are so crisp and clear even tiny 2 point fonts will spring to life. Thanks to integrated WiGig technology, you’ll also be able to bounce those streams to a 4K TV set wirelessly by plugging in a small dongle. (You can find similar technology in the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which features a Snapdragon 800 and includes 4K playback and capture. You can find a review here comparing the Note 3 with the Canon 5D Mark III.)
You won’t find this capability on the iPhone 6 because Apple opted not to include 4K video recording. Redshark News argues the reason is that 4K recordings would have used up too much space. Users would have been forced to repeatedly remove the clips from their phones. It’s a reasonable guess in lieu of an explanation from Apple. Anyone who has filled up the memory on their PC or phone knows how frustrating that can be.
As bloggers have discovered, it is possible to playback a 4K video on a new iPhone, but is it really a 4K experience? Apple’s “new Retina HD display” tops out at the1334x750 resolution for the iPhone 6 and the 1920×1080 resolution for the iPhone 6 Plus. This is far less than either strict 4K, which is 4096×2160 (pixel width x pixel height), or ultra high definition television, which is also called 4K and has a resolution of 3840×2160.
In terms of data management, both Qualcomm and Apple support H.265 video encoding and decoding, also referred to HEVC or high efficiency video coding. With HEVC, apps like FaceTime use less data. The key benefit of HEVC is compression efficiency and support for resolutions up to 8192×4320. In other words, it delivers high quality at lower bit rates.
For still photos, Qualcomm offers dual image signal processors that can be coupled with a single, higher resolution camera for images up to 55 megapixels. The ISPs support multiple, separate cameras for continuous optical zoom and stereoscopic 3D. But to take advantage of this ability your smartphone will need additional technology. Corephotonics and Pelican Imaging are two Qualcomm-backed companies that deliver DSLR-like functionality enhanced by 3D. It’s worth noting, however, that as a chip provider, Qualcomm can only support a better camera experience, it can’t guarantee it.
Apple, on the other hand, has been able to consistently deliver better and better smartphone cameras. Last year, Apple’s purchase of PrimeSense led to speculation that the iPhone 6 would include its 3D sensing technology. Instead, Apple chose to simply upgrade the 8 megapixel camera. The decision to stick with tried-and-true technology led to stellar reviews. After a series of tests, DxO Labs, a provider of digital imaging solutions, gave the iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus the highest score for a mobile phone camera, beating out by three points the reigning smartphone camera kings Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z3/Z2. (Both are examples of the quality of the image processing by Qualcomm’s current high-end SoCs.)
Another area where Qualcomm is claiming bragging rights is audio quality. The Snapdragon 800 family has been offering ultra high-definition capture and playback of 7.1 surround sound commonly used in home theaters. The new chip bumps that up to 11.1 surround sound via Dolby Atmos, while continuing to offer Qualcomm’s Fluence noise cancelation. Most important for audiophiles, however, is the chip’s support for true high resolution audio with a sampling frequency of 192kHz at 24-bit. This provides the closest approximation of what musicians and sound engineers here in the studio.
The iPhone 6 doesn’t offer high-resolution audio, according to tests by Mashable. But after looking at teardown analyses, reporter Pete Pachal concludes that’s probably a software limitation and not a result of the chips Apple has chosen. (The digital-to-analog converter used in the iPhone 6 was custom built by Cirrus Logic for Apple.) Indeed, a benchmarking test of the iPhone 6’s audio by AnandTech, showed the device had less distortion and a better frequency response than the HTC M8, which is powered by a Snapdragon 801 processor. Meanwhile, headphone products like Turtle Beach Earforce i60 headphones, the BeoPlay H6 and Parrot Zik offer a rich, surround sound experience for Apple products.