After months of unchecked advancement in terms of Apple iPhone 12 hype, the Android phone fight back has begun over the past few weeks, with details now starting to emerge about what sort of advanced technology next year's flagship Android phones are set to wield.
And, simply put, for Android phone users these dispatches couldn't come soon enough, with news of the iPhone 12's rapid new A14 Bionic system on a chip (SoC), LiDAR-packing smart camera system, lighting fast 5G connectivity and next-level software features looming large over the future smartphone market.
The latest 2021 Android phone leak is the most positive yet, though, and for Samsung phone users especially it will be a welcome boon.
That's because, as reported by wccftech, details of the hyper-powerful new Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 system on a chip have just leaked (the chip slated for inclusion in the Samsung Galaxy S21, as well as almost all other 2021 flagship Android phone), and they make daunting reading for Apple.
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Firstly, the Snapdragon 875 is going to be Qualcomm's first-ever 5nm SoC, which will tackle the incoming 5nm Apple A14 Bionic processor. From there, though, the 875 kicks things up a gear with its inclusion of a Cortex X1 Super Core.
The Cortext X1 Super Core is important as it delivers massive performance gains over the outgoing Cortex-A77 in the Snapdragon 865. That performance gain is a 30 per cent peak performance increase, and this is so notable that there are reports that Samsung itself is also going to use the Cortex X1 Super Core in its next-generation Exynos 1000 processor.
As a result, it looks pretty much locked in that every edition of the Samsung Galaxy S21 will sport a SoC with the X1 Super Core, regardless of if it is equipped with the 875 or 1000. And that means a big performance increase for Samsung phone users.
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As noted above, this super powerful new 5nm X1-packing Snapdragon 875 SoC is also rumoured to feature in almost every other Android flagship in 2021, with OnePlus, Sony, LG, Xiaomi, and Oppo all lined up to take advantage of it. This is great news for Android phone users in general, as it looks like we can expect strong performance across the market, too.
As a result, it certainly looks like on paper at least the A14 Bionic-packing iPhone 12 range is going to have some really serious competition next year from the Android phone market, which in the Samsung Galaxy S21 specifically, which is also set to come wielding a brand new RDNA GPU that delivers a 50% graphics performance increase, looks to be especially fierce.
As for what the Samsung Galaxy S21 will look like, nothing is as yet known, however back in April this year Ts Designer posted this visualisation on YouTube of what it could look like:
Hopefully we will learn more about the Snapdragon 875, Samsung Galaxy S30 and the Apple iPhone 12 soon, as judging from the leaks and rumours we've seen so far, it looks like 2021 could be a stand-out year for smartphones, and a win-win for iPhone and Android phone users worldwide.
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Rob has been writing about computing, gaming, mobile, home entertainment technology, toys (specifically Lego and board games), smart home and more for over 15 years. As the editor of PC Gamer, and former Deputy Editor for T3.com, you can find Rob's work in magazines, bookazines and online, as well as on podcasts and videos, too. Outside of his work Rob is passionate about motorbikes, skiing/snowboarding and team sports, with football and cricket his two favourites.
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