Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 was featured at CES 2019 in Las Vegas yesterday, over a month after it was released in Maui. Qualcomm’s new 855 chipset isn’t just the usual bump in specs. Instead, it will be the chip to appear in the first round of 5G handsets and delivering the new decade for 5G, Wi-Fi, AI, and XR.

We can expect to see the chip in most major flagship phones in 2019, including the Samsung Galaxy S10 in some countries including the US. (Check out more Samsung CES 2019 news here.)

Here’s what we currently know about the Snapdragon 855:

• The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 is a 7nm octa-core processor.
• The Arm DynamIQ CPU cluster design has been altered slighlty, with four small Cortex-A55 cores paired up with three big cores, based on Arm’s Cortex-A76 design, and a larger prime Cortex-A76 core for an even higher peak performance.
• It will harness multi-gigabit 4G connectivity, while unleashing transformative 5G experiences to provide some of the most advanced, imaginative technologies in the mobile industry.
• The chip will be powered by new architecture improvements and leading 7nm process technology, a giant leap in CPU smartphone performance, and a Hexagon processor that’s purpose built for AI.
• We will also see a more powerful Adreno 640 GPU, offering a 20 percent performance boost over the previous generation.
• It will provide the performance and power efficiency for the next echelon of 5G, AI and XR
• Size-wise the handset has reduced from 10nm to 7n suggesting improvements in efficiency to give us incredible battery life.
• It will provide next generation on-device AI capabilities to make your voice, camera, gaming and power management smarter, faster and more intuitive than ever before.

Samsung teased us with hints of the Galaxy S10 prior to their CES Press Conference. While we did not get to see the handset per se, we did hear a lot about the tech under the hood of the S10, including 5G technology and 7nm chipsets.

Samsung marked their 50 year anniversary with two big promises; 2019 will be the year we’ll see the “First 5G Smartphone to be Released”, and they are “the first company to receive FCC approval on… commercial 5G equipment.”

Samsung also committed to putting the power of 5G in consumers’ hands in the first half of 2019. As the S range is normally released in Spring, our bets are on the S10, or the rumoured 4 members of the S10 family (including an ‘ultra-premium’ Plus-branded variant and a cut-price ‘budget’ version), being the first in line for 5G connectivity.

Also at CES 2019 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, the chipset that’s expected to power the Galaxy S10.

Watch the full Samsung CES 2019 Press Conference for yourself:

Don’t want to wait for the S10? It’s time to check out the Samsung Galaxy S9 Dual Sim, now available Sim Free for under £500.