We get an up-close look at Qualcomm’s new 835 Snapdragon CPU

Today, Qualcomm officially announced its newest system on a chip, the Snapdragon 835. This latest piece of silicon is 35% smaller than the Snapdragon 820 and 821, should deliver up to 25% better battery life thanks to more efficient power management, and render graphics 25% faster with its Adreno 540 GPU.

The more compact package is 3mm smaller on each side of the chip. That does not sound like a lot of space, but remember what OEMs are willing to do to make room for new bits and pieces in their smartphones. That means bigger batteries in thinner phones with more power and better battery life.

What is remarkable about such technology, is how small it really is. When you consider the computing prowess on-hand, it is hard to fathom how more power, with better battery efficiency, multi-gigabit Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11ad), and gigabit class speeds in cellular data, can all fit on a little wafer that has now shrunk in size smaller than a penny.

That is what Qualcomm has achieved with the Snapdragon 835. This chip already in production, and we expect to see an official debut of the new CPU in the Asus Zenfone AR in an announcement at CES on Wednesday, though Qualcomm did accidentally spill the beans a little early.

Aside from its size, performance, and connectivity, Qualcomm enabled the Snapdragon 835 to handle security in what the company called hardware based multifactor authentication. So, when you use Android Pay, or Samsung Pay, the framework is in place where the point of sale can confirm not only who you are, but where you are during the transaction.

The Snapdragon 835 is not just for smartphones. The Osterhourt Design Group, based in San Francisco, announced two new AR/VR smartglasses that use the new chip. Qualcomm promised that the 835 would be making the rounds in IoT products like IP cameras, along with computing platforms like full featured Windows 10 machines, and what one presenter referred to as “Google OS” computers.