Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 845 SoC, to power next-gen flagship smartphones

Successor to Snapdragon 835, Qualcomm’s new chipset brings improved performance, better power efficiency, and improved image processing.

Xiaomi, Asus and Microsoft to launch devices powered by Qualcomm’s latest flagship Snapdragon 845 processor. (REUTERS)

Global chip-maker Qualcomm on Tuesday launched its latest flagship Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform.

The announcement came at the annual Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii late on Tuesday where Qualcomm made several announcements aimed to deliver significant advancements and innovation in mobile and PC technologies.

The 845 mobile platform is a successor to 2016's Snapdragon 835 and will drive improved performance, better power efficiency, and improved image processing. The Snapdragon 845 will likely come in many high-end Android phones in 2018, The Verge reported.

Samsung Electronics confirmed that Samsung Foundry will be the foundry for Snapdragon 845 as the companies continue to work together to advance the silicon manufacturing process.

"As the foundry partner for the Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform, we look forward to our continued collaboration," said ES Jung, President and General Manager, foundry business, Samsung Electronics.

Xiaomi Founder and Chairman Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi's next flagship smartphone will be powered by Snapdragon 845.

"Xiaomi is committed to making devices that combine cutting-edge innovations in technology and beautiful design, while defying price expectations, and we have chosen Snapdragon 845 to power our next flagship smartphone," added Jun.

Cristiano Amon, Executive Vice President of Qualcomm Technologies and Terry Myerson, Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group at Microsoft, reiterated their collaboration to deliver Windows 10 on Snapdragon.

"Always Connected PCs are instantly on, always connected with a week of battery life," said Myerson.

Jerry Shen, Chief Executive Officer of Asus announced the first Windows on Snapdragon device, the 2-in-1 convertible ASUS NovaGo, which is expected to be available early 2018.

Kevin Frost, Vice President and General Manager of consumer personal systems at HP Inc., also announced a detachable HP ENVY x2 Windows on Snapdragon Mobile PC.

"The HP ENVY x2 is designed to go everywhere with an incredibly thin and durable design built to be always connected with ultra-fast 4G LTE and Wi-Fi," Frost said.

Kevin Lensing, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the client business unit at AMD announced to bring Qualcomm technology to AMD's high-performance Ryzen processor platforms.

"Qualcomm Technologies continues to transform the way people use their mobile devices," said Amon.

"ASUS is proud to be paving the way with Qualcomm Technologies and other companies to develop this new landscape for 'Always Connected' Windows on Snapdragon PCs," added Shen.