Snapdragon 835 news: Qualcomm and Samsung to develop next-generation mobile processor together

Keith Kressin, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies Inc. and Ben Suh, senior vice president, foundry marketing, Samsung, show off the first 10 nanometer mobile processor, the Snapdragon 835, in New York at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit.Qualcomm/Samsung

Qualcomm Incorporated has announced that they will be partnering with Samsung Electronics in creating the next generation mobile processors. The Snapdragon 835 is based on the 10-nanometer (nm) FinFET manufacturing process and will be the smallest of its kind. It will also feature the Quick Charge 4 technology.

Keith Kressin, senior vice president and product management of Qualcomm Technologies, said in a press release: "We are excited to continue working together with Samsung in developing products that lead the mobile industry. Using the new 10nm process node is expected to allow our premium tier Snapdragon 835 processor to deliver greater power efficiency and increase performance while also allowing us to add a number of new capabilities that can improve the user experience of tomorrow's mobile devices."

The top-of-the-line chip will allow the use of more transistors on a smaller area, increasing its power and efficiency. It is estimated to provide up to 27 percent performance improvement, or up to 40 percent increase in its power efficiency, compared to its predecessor. Since the upcoming chip will be smaller, device manufacturers can design their upcoming products with a bigger battery, a thinner profile or add additional features.

The Snapdragon 835 will also include the Quick Charge 4 technology that is expected to provide a 20 percent increase in its charging time and 30 percent better efficiency than Quick Charge 3. It is speculated that the new charging technology will be able to support USB-PD devices such as the 2015 Nexus, the 2016 Pixel smartphones, and the new USB-C Apple MacBooks, according to GSM Arena.

Qualcomm's Quick Charge 4 will also feature the third version of the company's Intelligent negotiation for Optimum Voltage (INOV) power management algorithm. This feature will help determine the amount of power that the battery requires according to its thermal level. It will also include additional protection not only to the device and adaptor but on the whole charging process itself.

The upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is currently in production, and it will start arriving for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in the first half of 2017. Devices with the new chip will follow after that.