Though there are still many devices to be unveiled in 2019, there are already murmurs about what smartphone manufacturers have in store for 2020. In particular, Sony may be in line to release a mobile device running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC, according to the Japanese blog, AndroPlus.
If accurate, this news is quite early in the device rumor timeline; however, the blog claims to have discovered evidence of Qualcomm’s next-generation chip in the Sony Mobile firmware distribution server. The server refers to an Xperia device running the platform “SM8250,” which is believed to be the Snapdragon 865.
While unconfirmed, the naming sequence, at the least, is plausible, as Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 855 in December 2018 as its flagship chip for 2019. Later in the year, the semiconductor manufacturer announced the slightly updated Snapdragon 855+ chip, which is now being introduced in devices including the Sony Xperia 5.
Not much is known about this supposed 2020 Sony smartphone though some have speculated that it could run 5G. However, a few details have already surfaced about the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865. The chip, codenamed “Kona,” reportedly surfaced in a Geekbench benchmark listing in early August with some fairly powerful specs, including an eight-core 1.80 GHz processor, 8GB of RAM, and Android 10. There may also be separate versions of the chip, one compatible with 5G and one focusing on 4G LTE and other network compatibilities.
Samsung as a manufacturing partner of Qualcomm may also have first dibs on using the chip in its own upcoming flagships. There have been murmurs of a Galaxy S11 circulating for some time. Samsung commonly announces its early-year flagships in late February, during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, with a market release shortly after.
Sony may similarly announce its early-year flagship in February, as it did with the Xperia 1, which ran the Snapdragon 855. However, it did not release to market until June. The early 2020 Snapdragon 865 device could be more along the lines of the Xperia 2 and similarly release much later in 2020.
Reports currently remain in the realm of rumors; however, more news about Qualcomm’s next chip should soon begin to surface as the manufacturer typically announces its new components at the end of the year; ahead of the new smartphone cycle.
