Is Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 Actually Better Than Snapdragon 888?

Qualcomm has launched two flagship smartphones SOCs this year. The Snapdragon 888 is the cutting-edge processor from the company that offers the best-possible technology. Similarly, the Snapdragon 870 is an upgraded version of the Snapdragon 865+, and it also has all the bells and whistles that one can expect from a flagship processor.

If you look at the specs sheet, the Snapdragon 870 has a higher CPU clock speed when compared to Snapdragon 888? Does that mean the Snapdragon 870 is a faster processor than the Snapdragon 888? No, it's not, and here is an explanation regarding the same.

Snapdragon 888 Outperforms Snapdragon 870

The Snapdragon 888 and the Snapdragon 870 features an octa-core CPU design with 1 + 3 + 4 configuration. There is a single high-performance core, then there will be three mid-range cores and four efficiency cores.

The primary core on the Snapdragon 888 can reach up to 2.84GHz, whereas the Snapdragon 870 has a peak CPU clock speed of 3.2GHz. So, Snapdragon 870 should outperform Snapdragon 888 in single-core CPU performance, right? No, and here is why the Snapdragon 888 still outperforms the Snapdragon 870.

Architecture Makes A Lot Of Difference In Performance

The primary core on the Snapdragon 888 is based on the latest Arm Cortex-X1 with 5nm architecture, which can offer up to 25 percent more performance when compared to Cortex A77 architecture used on the Snapdragon 870. On top of that, the Snapdragon 870 is based on 7nm fabrication, and it is not as efficient as the 5nm Snapdragon 888 SoC.

Just don't believe these claims? Let us look at some CPU benchmarks then. On Geekbench 5, the Xiaomi Mi 11 has a score of 1135 in single-core CPU performance. Similarly, the Motorola Edge S powered by the Snapdragon 870 has obtained a single-core CPU score of 914. This clearly indicates that despite the lower clock speed, the Snapdragon 888 outperforms the Snapdragon 870 at least in single-core performance.

Due to the difference in manufacturing node, the Snapdragon 888 consumes less power when compared to the Snapdragon 870. As most of the apps and games still depend on single-core CPU performance, making the Snapdragon 888 an excellent processor. However, the Snapdragon 870 is no slouch either.