Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 gets speed boost for gaming phones, with Asus ROG Phone II up first

From CNET: Gamers, rejoice. Qualcomm's newest mobile processor has been built for speed -- just in time for the rollout of ultra-fast 5G cellular networks. And Asus will be the first to use the chip, in its upcoming ROG Phone II.

Qualcomm on Monday introduced the Snapdragon 855 Plus, a souped-up version of its high-end chip that powers many of the latest and greatest Android smartphones on the market. The Plus features 15% faster graphics and a CPU clock speed of up to 2.96GHz. The regular Snapdragon 855 maxes out at 2.84GHz.

The new chip is aimed at gaming phones and other devices that will tap into 5G, the new cellular standard that promises download speeds in the multi-gigabits; artificial intelligence; and augmented and virtual reality. Devices using the chip will hit the market later this year.

"Snapdragon 855 Plus will raise the bar for elite gamers with the increase in CPU and GPU performance," Kedar Kondap, Qualcomm vice president of product management, said in a press release.

Asus will be the first handset maker to use the chip, it said in a press release. It didn't provide details about the phone beyond saying the ROG Phone II will build upon last year's ROG Phone. The older device has an AMOLED display that can refresh 90 times a second and something called AirTriggers -- pressure-sensitive corners that double as bumper buttons for games.

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