The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is Qualcomm's 2020 flagship system-on-chip (SoC) for smartphones. It was announced in December 2019 as the successor to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. This month, we are seeing the first wave of phones launching with the Snapdragon 865. Qualcomm has now made clear which announced and upcoming phones feature the Snapdragon 865. It has done so by announcing a list of 19 announced and upcoming phones that have the chip.
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Qualcomm says that global OEMs and brands Black Shark, Fujitsu, iQOO, Lenovo, Nubia, OPPO, Realme, Redmi, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Vivo, Xiaomi and ZTE have selected the Snapdragon 865 for their 5G phone launches this year. The company promotes the Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform as being the "world's most advanced," as it's designed to deliver the "unmatched connectivity and performance required for the next wave of flagship devices." The Snapdragon 865 features Qualcomm's second-generation modem-RF system in the form of Snapdragon X55. It also incorporates Wi-Fi 6 and "redefines" Bluetooth audio with Qualcomm's FastConnect 6800 mobile connectivity system. The Snapdragon 865's features such as gigapixel-speed photography, Snapdragon Elite Gaming with desktop-level features, and the fifth generation Qualcomm AI Engine were also promoted in the press release.
Qualcomm says that after the Snapdragon 865's introduction in December 2019, more than 70 designs have been announced or are in development based on the platform. In addition, more than 1,750 designs have been announced or are in development based on its Snapdragon 8-series mobile platforms. Phones that have been announced or are coming soon featuring the Snapdragon 865 include:
- ASUS ROG Phone III
- ASUS ZenFone 7
- Black Shark 3
- FCNT arrows 5G
- iQOO 3
- Legion Gaming Phone
- Nubia Red Magic 5G
- OPPO Find X2
- Realme X50 Pro
- Redmi K30 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra
- Sharp AQUOS 5G
- Sony Xperia 1 II
- Vivo APEX 2020 Concept Phone
- Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro
- ZTE Axon 10s Pro
The phones that have already been announced are the Snapdragon 865 variants of the Galaxy S20 series (which are sold in the U.S, Canada, South Korea, and China), the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro, Realme X50 Pro 5G, Sony Xperia 1 II, iQOO 3, and the Sharp AQUOS 5G. The rest of the phones on the list haven't been announced yet. The OPPO Find X2 is scheduled to launch on March 6. The ZTE Axon 10s Pro was going to internationally launch at MWC 2020, but after the cancellation of the event, ZTE hasn't rescheduled the launch yet. The same is applicable for the Vivo APEX 2020, which was going to be showcased at the event. It's known that the Nubia Red Magic 5G and the Redmi K30 Pro are supposed to launch soon, but we don't have any specifics.
Lastly, the Black Shark 3, the Legion Gaming Phone (by Lenovo), and the FCNT arrows 5G are relatively unknown phones for now. The FCNT arrows 5G will likely have a Japan-only release like the Sharp AQUOS 5G. The Black Shark 3 has received certification, but Black Shark hasn't announced a launch date yet. The same goes for the Lenovo Legion Gaming Phone, which is actually the first time I am hearing about it.
The OnePlus 8 series is surprisingly absent from Qualcomm's list, and so are the LG V60 ThinQ and Motorola Edge+. It's likely that OnePlus, LG, and Motorola declined to confirm the specific flagship smartphones they're working on for the purpose of this announcement. However, we still expect to learn more about them soon.