Qualcomm have unveiled their latest SoC device for mobile applications featuring an upgraded Adreno 429 GPU to give it a 40 % increase in video processing capability compared to the original Snapdragon 800. Additional features of the new processor include support for hardware tessellation and geometry shaders to give 4K rendering. According to Qualcomm this will produce more realistic scenes and objects and allow a higher quality user interface combined with lower power requirements.

 

The processor also features the ARM-based Krait 450 quad core CPU, the first mobile processor to run at speeds of up to 2.5 GHz per core, providing sufficient memory bandwidth to support up to 25.6 GB/s. It is also the first chip to provide hardware support for 4K HEVC (H.265) decoding.

 

Qualcomm’s executive vice president Murthy Renduchintala said that "Using a smartphone or tablet powered by a Snapdragon 805 processor is like having an Ultra HD home theatre in your pocket, with 4K video, imaging and graphics, all built for mobile". Samples of the processor are now shipping.