Qualcomm’s big and very well performing chipset, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 wasn’t the one that carried through to the end of 2016. Qualcomm went on to release the Snapdragon 821 processor, which is said to be about 10% better in performance when compared to the Snapdragon 820 one.
The smartphone market is quite active already and that is why you would see already some flagship smartphones getting launched with this latest chipset, the Snapdragon 821. Let’s check out more about the chipset before checking out the list of smartphones powered by it.
Details about Snapdragon 821
- 8996Pro chipset
- CPU Clock Speed: Up to 2.4 GHz
- CPU Cores: Quad-core CPU, 4x Qualcomm® Kryo™ CPU
- Modem Name: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X12 LTE modem
- LTE Category: LTE Category 13 (uplink), LTE Category 12 (downlink)
Read: Comparison between Snapdragon 821 and Snapdragon 820
The Snapdragon 821 has a 14-bit Qualcomm Spectra Image Signal Processor (ISP) that supports up to 28MP camera. The new Qualcomm Hexagon 680 DSP in the chipset is known to make the battery performance better and the improvement is seen in the performance as well.
List of Snapdragon 821 phones
ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe
The first smartphone to be announced with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor is the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe, the premium smartphone from the Taiwanese brand. The ZS570KL model is a metal unibody device and internally to support the new chipset, there is Adreno 530 GPU and 6GB of RAM along with 256GB of UFS 2.0 memory.
The ZenFone 3 Deluxe has a Full HD 5.7-inch display that is protected by Gorilla Glass 4 and the Super IPS panel can produce brightness of up to 600 nits. The phone has USB Type-C connectivity and support for Quick Charge 3.0 and the device runs Android Marshmallow based Zen UI. The ZenFone 3 Deluxe also has a 23-megapixel Sony camera on the back.
Xiaomi Mi 5s & Mi 5s Plus
Xiaomi didn’t take long to announce the flagship smartphone’s upper variant, as the Xiaomi Mi 5s was launched along with a Plus version, both of which are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset. Launched in four color variants, i.e. Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, and Grey, the phones differ by not just the size but the camera setup as well.
They come with a new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and it is not a physical button on the front of the Mi 5s, and while the standard one has a 5.15-inch display, the Mi 5s Plus has a 5.7-inch display, both having the 2.5D curved screen edges. The Xiaomi Mi 5s has a single 13MP camera with a big 1/2.3” sensor but on the other side, the Mi 5s Plus comes with a dual lens set-up with two 13MP cameras.
Google Pixel and Pixel XL
Google’s flagship smartphones, i.e. the first one under Google branding are the Google Pixel and Pixel XL. It was a big announcement as the Android OS manufacturer because they rested the Nexus series and now have come up with the Pixel phones, both of which were powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor.
The Pixel has a 5-inch Full HD display while the Pixel XL has a 5.5-inch Quad HD display, and both of them have 4GB RAM and storage options of either 32GB or 128GB internal storage. While there is a 12.3MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, the front has an 8MP camera. There is 4K video recording possible as well as Slow-motion recording possible, and while the Pixel has a 2770 mAh battery, the Pixel XL comes with a better 3450 mAh battery. One of the big advantages of the Pixel and Pixel XL phones is the software and its updates that Google will offer.
LeEco Le Pro 3
4GB or 6GB of RAM is what supports the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor in the LeEco Le Pro 3. It is a top-end device with not just the latest internal specs but everything else also being good on paper. A 5.5 inch Full HD display is given on the front and there are variants having different RAM capacity and storage options.
The Le Pro 3 has a 16-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, phase detection autofocus, and 1/2.8″ sensor size. On the front there is an 8MP camera with f/2.2 aperture. One of the other good things about this phone is the 4070 mAh battery that is included here. It has the USB Type-C connectivity and support for Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging.
Smartisan M1 And M1L
Smartisan is not a relatively known name in the smartphone market but it still is making high-end devices. The latest from the company are the Smartisan M1 and M1L. The M1 comes with a 5.15-inch Full HD display while the M1L is bigger and has a 5.7-inch QHD display. The smaller device has 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB of UFS 2.0 internal storage and the bigger one, i.e. M1L has 4GB / 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB / 64GB of UFS 2.0 storage.
Both the phones have a 23-megapixel shooter on the back and while there is a 3050 mAh battery included in the Smartisan M1, the M1L comes packed with a 4080 mAh battery, both supporting the Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.
OnePlus 3T
The OnePlus 3T was launched with some important upgraded specs and that includes the processor, which now is the Snapdragon 821 instead of the Snapdragon 820 on the OnePlus 3. That isn’t the only change, as the front-facing camera too gets upgraded from the 8MP one earlier to a 16-megapixel Samsung sensor for selfies.
The new OnePlus 3T also has a better battery capacity at 3400 mAh, and while the display and rear camera stay the same, the company decided to come up with a 128GB storage variant for the new phone. The RAM capacity of 6GB stays the same as well.
LG G6 and LG G6+
The flagships from LG for the year 2017 are powered by the last year’s flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 821. The LG G6 came with the 18:9 display and it had the dual-lens camera combination on the back.
Other phones with Snapdragon 821
- Xiaomi Mi Note 2
- LeEco Cool Changer S1
- Xiaomi Mi Mix
- Lenovo ZUK Edge
- Samsung Galaxy Note FE
- ZTE Axon 7s
- HTC U Ultra