LAS VEGAS -- Qualcomm used its first CES keynote to launch its new flagship mobile processor, the Snapdragon 800. Designed for the demands of high-end smartphones and tablets, the new chip boasts 75% better performance than Qualcomm's previous top-of-the-line chip, the Snapdragon S4.
Qualcomm created the 800 to deliver the best mobile experience possible while still maintaining good battery life. Said to be capable of speeds up to 2.3 GHz, the 800 is built around the company's quad-core Krait 400 CPU.
If your phone packs a Snapdragon 800, it'll be capable of capturing, playing or even displaying 4K video. It can support phone cameras with resolutions up to 55 megapixels, as well as HD multichannel audio.
A new graphics processor, the Adreno 330 GPU is twice as powerful as its predecessor, and features new tech that extends its use beyond graphics and into general computing tasks, improving overall performance.
Wireless connectivity is fully integrated into the 800, with multi-band support for LTE and the latest Wi-Fi technology, 802.11ac, capable of speeds up to 1 gigabit per second.
The Snapdragon 800 has an impressive feature package, but it's got its work cut out, going up against competing chips such as Nvidia's Tegra 4 and Apple's A6X.
In addition to the 800, Qualcomm also launched the Snapdragon 600, a chip that's a notch down from the top, which runs at speeds of up to 1.9GHz and is said to perform 40% better than the S4.
You can learn more about the new Snapdragon chips from Qualcomm's blog post about them.