Of all the phones that were launched in the second half of 2019, only three of them feature next-gen processors. And of those, only two are chips we’re actually going to see in use throughout 2020. Some versions of Galaxy Note 10, all of Apple’s iPhone 11 models, and the Mate 30 flagships from Huawei all pack 7nm EUV processors, although it’s just Apple’s A13 Bionic and Huawei’ Kirin 990 chips that are really next-gen components. Samsung will likely launch a new Exynos chip for the upcoming Galaxy S11 smartphone, and it’ll use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 for S11 versions in the United States and China. The 865 will also power several other 2020 flagship handsets like the OnePlus 8 and Pixel 5, although the chip will not be unveiled until later this year. Nevertheless, a well-known leaker says the Snapdragon 865 will be an improvement, but it still won’t be able to touch the iPhone 11’s performance.
Ice Universe said on Twitter that the Snapdragon 865 is also a 7nm EUV chip that will reach Geekbench 4 scores as high as 4250 (single-core) and 13300 (multi-core). If that sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve seen similar scores in early August, from the same leaker. We told you back then that the Snapdragon 865 scored worse than the iPhone XS’s 4800 single-core average but better than its 11200 multi-core result.
Since then, the iPhone 11 came out and Geekbench 4 scores for the 11 series top 5400 and 13700. In other words, the Snapdragon 865 still has a long way to go to beat Apple’s chips.
Qualcomm snapdragon 865 Geekbench4
4250/13300， 7nm EUV— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) October 11, 2019
Raw processor performance doesn’t tell the whole story and Android devices do manage to beat iPhones in some real-life speed tests. But that’s only because Android vendors have increased RAM dramatically on their devices and Apple’s iOS 11 and iOS 13 software has been riddled with RAM management issues. A top Android phone may fall behind the iPhone when it comes to loading apps, but it’ll certainly keep them in memory longer than an iPhone.
The Snapdragon 865 should be unveiled later this year, with the Galaxy S11’s announcement likely set for February 2020.
