Hot take: Flagship chipsets are no longer necessary

25 October 2020
As we approached the limit of Moore's Law, it became apparent that any further advancement would come at a cost

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • KSu
  • 26 Oct 2020

The article only applies to to Snapdragon chips.

Mediatek is breaking that barrier where you can have energy efficient chips with flagship performance at low cost.

Dimensity 800/820/1000/1000+ are classic examples of the same.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • fu%
    • 26 Oct 2020

    Anonymous, 26 Oct 2020the chinese phones sell because of people who only need spe... moreHaha amaturer. You have never heard of pixel experience custom ROM runs perfectly on my Mi 9T pro free from ads with xiaomi cheap but value for money hardware. And yes the chipset is not 765G but 855. Looking to get 865 for 5G now at a cheap price too not the crappy $700 bucks pixel 5 with 765G chipset

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • 6p}
      • 26 Oct 2020

      I'm buying second hand so suggest something guys.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • M9x
        • 26 Oct 2020

        flagship for ever

          • A
          • Abi
          • t1%
          • 26 Oct 2020

          This article is wrong on many counts, Apple has huge phones as well as small phones. In their small phones the battery is small.

          Also One Plus is increasing prices not due to components getting costlier every year, they just want more profit. Their idea was to create a brand and fans based on the idea of a brand that provides value for money (maybe even at loss or low profit), then keep increasing the price in small multiples every year while not bringing any real innovations ( good camera & wireless charging which cost real money) and even cutting down on fan favorites like headphone jack just to sell their Bluetooth headphones.

          This article seems like paid marketing for One Plus & Nord.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • pmH
            • 26 Oct 2020

            765 still suck comparing even to 845, thats 2 years old flagship

              • a
              • amdquadro
              • XT8
              • 26 Oct 2020

              Well, if you actually used a flagship chip for more than 2years and another phone with a budget chipset from the same year, you would notice the difference.

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                • Anonymous
                • puw
                • 26 Oct 2020

                I highly doubt it's a "production cost" thing - it's purely a marketing thing - you usually get just 20% more speed with the "latest and greatest" chip that costs 3 to 5 times more than the "average" chip. Just stick to the average. 2 years from now the flagship chip will cost 20 bucks and will be put in every $100 budget phone.

                  • D
                  • Dream
                  • avE
                  • 26 Oct 2020

                  In fact, I've been using Redmi Note 4X (Snapdragon 625) and although there are very rare hiccups, I'm pretty satisfied with the performance and the phone never heats up.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • vGj
                    • 26 Oct 2020

                    AnonD-964130, 26 Oct 2020Good luck with using a phone like a heavy brick with compul... moreYou can play hardcore games on Mobile processors too, but Since Android is running on Graphics API from 2004 (OpenGL 3.1) and also the appsbdont run native it's all runs on top of Android Run Time Emulation layer.

                    I am hoping Fuchsia can Fix this with the use of Vulkan only API and super fast Escher renderer also all apps will be full native no emulation and 64bit only OS.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 3JQ
                      • 26 Oct 2020

                      Big fan of this? The man's punny as hell.

                        Thank you for the article. Perhaps this explains why SD 845 had 4 high clocked cores and 855 and 865 have only one high clocked core and 4 clocked still high but a bit lower than maximum.

                        However, as a user, I am desperately trying to AVOID compact phones. I was enjoying an LG v20 with a 10500 mah replaceable aftermarket battery but I had to change it because you cannot install custom rom on it. Still, it was the best experience in terms of form, shape and screen brightness.

                        I like big phones with big batteries. Ideally, amoled and a power saving chipset + over 10k replaceable battery. Nothing like this which is up to date exists :(

                        I am hesitating between Galaxy note 9 and Poco f2 pro with battery cases but I may as well go back to V20...To hell with small phones and small batteries.

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                          • AnonD-964130
                          • gM$
                          • 26 Oct 2020

                          Domestoboto, 26 Oct 2020Yeah, we still need super powerful flagship chipsets. Not w... moreGood luck with using a phone like a heavy brick with compulsory cooling fan ...mobile gaming is a joke of this era...hardcore gamers play on playstation or computers

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • 6wN
                            • 26 Oct 2020

                            If your phone has 7 series processor it is enough for everything unless you're heavy gamer. But if you're very basic user even 4 and 6 series processor are good. I mean snapdragon processors.

                              Nice article, but I disagree with it. 765G is a good chipset but manufacturers are slowly using this instead of the flagship chipset and consumers are getting a less powered chipset for the same price.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • f{n
                                • 26 Oct 2020

                                Dude, are u saying that Poco F1 was an experiment that didnt work. SERIOSLY.
                                It went on to be one of the biggest chart buster sales of the time and still has plenty of fans and developers all round the world.

                                  Overpriced Pixel 5, 25 Oct 2020Very true bro. The money spent on a 765G Google pixel 5 you... moresuggest me any 865 device with $365 price tag and 12gb/256gb option. thats what i have paid for my New OnePlus Nord.
                                  i dont justify Pixle5 price with 765 soc but oneplus nord price is damn good with its given features.

                                    Another thing is mid range SoC have less powerful GPU so if you really are into gaming you have to buy a flagship

                                      There are few things to keep in mind like Flagship SoCs are more for future proofing then for showing of current potential, today practically there maybe no use getting 865 over 765 but after a year or two you will see that 865 keeps going strong while 765 will start to show its age
                                      ISP on flagship is better because it can handle load better, that's why images from a flagship is usually better than mid range even if using the same camera hardware (usually Kirin are exception because they have near flagship level ISP)
                                      These are the things a buyer usually checks out before buying a smartphone
                                      Tough I would personally prefer an absolute premium smartphone with upper mid range SoC but only if the price is down cause no way I am paying $600+ for a mid range phone when Poco F2 Pro and have Oneplus 8T have shown that you can get the best even at that price

                                        Anonymous, 26 Oct 2020I would happily live with a 765 equipped phone if everythin... morePixel 5 should $550 max.

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