Qualcomm Snapdragon 898 specs leaked: 4nm process, Cortex-X2 Core, and more

Qualcomm recently upgraded the Snapdragon 888 to its Plus variant and we are already hearing rumours of the next-in-line Snapdragon 898 that’s expected to power flagships phones in 2022.  

The leak comes from popular tipster Ice Universe (via Mydrivers) who claims that the next-generation Snapdragon 898 will be based on the latest 4nm process and have Cortex-X2 cores clocked at up to 3.09GHz

The leak doesn’t specify if the performance and power cores will employ the latest ARM IPs like Cortex-A710 and Cortex-A510 or not. 

Snapdragon 898 Specifications and Details - Not the first to cross the 3.0GHz threshold

The Snapdragon 898 will be manufactured on the 4nm process and will have the Cortex-X2 based Prime core clocked at up to 3.09 GHz. In comparison, the Snapdragon 888 Plus maxes out at 2.995 GHz and the Snapdragon 888 at 2.84GHz. 

This is not the first time that Qualcomm has breached the 3.0GHz threshold, though. In fact, the Snapdragon 865+ also had its Prime Cortex-A77 core clocked at up to 3.09GHz and Qualcomm later backtracked with the Snapdragon 888. The reason for the same is quite clear now, even with lower clock speed, the Snapdragon 888 doesn't score well when it comes to power efficiency. 

ARM’s Cortex-X2 belongs to the ARM’s X-series architecture that debuted with the Cortex-X1. Unlike with the Cortex-A series IP, ARM’s objective here is to maximize performance without prioritizing PPA (Power Performance, Area) dictates. The probable reason is to make the chipsets using Cortex-X2 cores suitable for more demanding devices like laptops and convertibles. 

At the same time, considering that the current generation chipsets with Cortex-X1 cores like Snapdragon 888 and Exynos 2100 don’t exactly shine when it comes to power efficiency, the switch to a higher frequency of 3.09 GHz for the more power hungry Cortex-X2 core doesn’t sound like a reason to rejoice just yet. We will need to wait and watch to know how much of a difference the new 4nm process node makes in this regard. 

ARM announced that the Cortex-X2 cores in May this year and projected peak performance improvements of 16% as compared to the Cortex-X1 cores. These figures will be realized only if the next generation chipsets like Snapdragon 898 upgrade the L3 cache from 4MB to 8MB. 

Meanwhile, MediaTek is reportedly trying to beat Qualcomm to market with its own 4nm chipset that’s expected to narrow the performance gap between MediaTek’s current Dimensity flagship and Qualcomm’s top of the line Snapdragon 888. 

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The PS5s M2 SSD installation support page is the most unnecessarily complicated guide youll read today

So, you’ve bought your PS5, played a bunch of cool games like Returnal, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Spider-Man: Miles Morales but, you're running out of space! Well, Sony has just released a new support page for beta users to ‘try’ and add an M.2 SS to their PS5 consoles. At first glance, this seems awfully complicated for a simple SSD expansion but you can go through the support document to judge it for yourselves. The support page also goes on to state that the new M.2 SSD expansion support firmware will only be available to beta users right now. 

We assume the feature will roll out for all users in the coming months. The support page also details the type of M.2 SSD that is compatible with the PS5. In a rather humorous turn, the page also goes on to state that you will need a well-lit room with a table to work on. A #1 Phillips or cross-head screwdriver and an optional flashlight, just in case you need an extra burst of light since Sony assumes most people work deep down in the coalmines of Tanzania. But we digress.  

PS5 M.2 SSD installation now available for beta users

As Eurogamer also states, there are a whopping 12 steps to installing the M.2 SSD to the PS5! Xbox users will know that the equivalent expansion on the Series X literally requires you to plug it in and forget about it. Just one simple, uncomplicated step. Installing the M.2 SSD in the PS5 reads like a manual on how to diffuse a thermonuclear warhead. And, if that wasn’t enough, you’ll have to adhere to a set of strict specifications and dimensions when buying an M.2 SSD that is compatible with the PS5. Seagate and one other brand have also announced compatible drives. You can check out the images below for a rough idea of what kind of magical M.2 SSD you’ll need. 

For anyone attempting to install an M.2 SSD into your PS5, we wish you all the best!

 

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Amazon reportedly offering free Kindle Oasis and Fabric Cover to First-Gen Kindle owners

Old Kindle models with 3G support will not be able to connect to cellular networks starting from December this year. The change will primarily impact users in the US where carriers are phasing out 2G and 3G starting from the end of 2021. 

Extending a sweat gesture, Amazon is upgrading the first generation Kindle K1 owners in the US to the latest Kindle Oasis (10th gen) for free. According to screenshots shared by a Reddit user, Amazon’s expensive fabric case cover is also bundled along. 

The offer shows up in the Amazon app and reads as follows: 

“Thank you for being one of our earliest customers, and for still reading on your Kindle 1st generation device.”

Kindle models that will lose internet access include Kindle (first generation), Kindle (second generation), and Kindle DX (second generation). These devices don’t have Wi-Fi, so owners will only be able to read existing content or probably side-load ebooks and documents.  

Amazon has also sold Kindle models with 3G connectivity starting from the second-generation Kindle Paperwhite that launched in India in 2014, but these models also have Wi-Fi connectivity and consumers will still be able to download and purchase new books and frankly won’t be missing out on much. 

Kindle models with Wi-Fi that will lose 3G connectivity include Kindle Keyboard (third generation), Kindle Touch (fourth generation), Kindle Paperwhite (fifth generation), Kindle Paperwhite (sixth generation), Kindle Paperwhite (seventh generation), Kindle Voyage (seventh generation), and Kindle Oasis (eighth generation).

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Steve Jobs 1973 job application is auctioned off for a staggering 343,000

Have you ever had someone try to buy your job application? Sounds strange, right? But, a new report has emerged that states that a job application filled out by the late Steve Jobs has actually being auctioned off for $343,000 (Rs 2,54,80,320 approx converted). The report also states that it is the highest ever amount that the job application has been listed as. This was the fourth time the artefact was put up for auction. You can check out the old school application below. 

It seems that the application was filled out by Jobs when he was but a wee lad of 18. This was three years before he founded Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. We aren’t sure exactly what position he was applying for, but based on the man’s experience and his passion, he was probably looking at a technical job. The auction winners were not identified. 

It seems strange that a job application is worth so much, but to be fair, it did belong to one of the titans of the tech industry. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Jobs changed the way we look at smartphones and a ton of other devices. His work in Apple and his passion put the company on the map and has since become one of the biggest and most influential companies in the world. 

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Xiaomi Mi Band X with 360-degree Wraparound Display allegedly in the works

Xiaomi is allegedly working on a futuristic Mi Band X that has a 360-degree wraparound display. A few leaked presentation photos reveal that the flexible screen will wrap around a users wrist and snap magnetically. There is no conventional buckle pr clasp to break the continuity. 

The slides also assure that the Mi Band X will be a slim and light product, but that’ll also make it tricky for Xiaomi to make room for a sizeable battery needed to fuel the extra-large display. 

#Xiaomi - Xiaomi working a new watch that look very similar to Nubia Alpha Watch and it'll be called "Mi Band X" Specifications - Extremely thin and light - 360°flexible scroll screen without strap design - Magnetic bracelet buckle - Obsidian color full of technology#MiBandX pic.twitter.com/0hThFKZ5qA

— Equal Leaks (@EqualLeaks) July 28, 2021 Xiaomi Mi Band X: Style or Substance?

Of course, whether the concept takes on will also largely depend on the applications of the 360-degree flexible screen. Come to think of it a cool use case could be the entire bracelet acting as a fill progress bar filling up as you reach your workout goal - though again that could be utterly harsh on the battery. The extra screen real state will also make it more convenient to check the phone’s notifications log and messages. 

Manufacturers like ZTE have earlier flirted with flexible displays on wearables for products like Nubia Alpha and Nubia Watch. However, the use of the extended flexible screen was mostly for making a style statement rather than adding tangible features. 

This isn’t the first time that Xiaomi is literally pushing the limits. Its obsession with wrap-around screens dates back to Mi Mix Alpha (first impressions), which did hit retail shelves but was never meant for the mass market. For all we know at this stage, the Mi Band X may very well end up being just a cool concept prototype. 

Even if the Mi Band X makes it to the consumer markets, it surely won’t be affordable as is given for Xiaomi’s other Mi band options like the recently launched Mi Band 6 that’s yet to make its way to India.

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PS Plus Free August Games Announced — Hunters Arena: Legends, Tennis World Tour 2, More

PlayStation Plus subscribers will be available to play three games — Hunters Arena: Legends, Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, and Tennis World Tour 2 — for free in August. All three games will be available to PS Plus subscribers on PS4, with only Hunters Arena: Legends available on both PS5 and PS4.

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Sony X80J 65-inch 4K HDR TV Review: Good panel performance, but is it worth the asking price

Should you buy the Sony X80J? Well, it all depends on what you are looking for. The panel has very good performance for content consumption in HDR and SDR like movies and TV shows and is also good for gaming. In real work use, the TV performs very well, giving good colour reproductions and an immersive experience. It does not have local dimming which affects its performance in a dark room, but a little bias lighting helps. The audio output is good as well. While we tested the 65-inch variant of this TV, know that it is available in screen sizes from 43-inches up to 75-inches. As of writing this review, the 65-inch variant is priced at Rs 1,34,990. That’s similarly priced to the Sony 55-inch X90J which has better picture performance, local dimming and Sony’s new XR processor. So, you are getting newer technology and better performance at the cost of screen size with the X90J. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Mi QLED TV 75 which, for a similar price as the 65X80J, gives you QLED backlighting and local dimming along with a larger screen size. While the X80J has better colours than the Mi QLED TV, the Mi TVs local dimming is its strength for darkroom content consumption.

 

Sony’s 2020 flagship TVs may be dominated by the XR processor along with HDMI 2.1 and more bells and whistles. But the brand also has other options for you to consider in their 2021 lineup. Ranging from 43-inch all the way up to 75-inches we have the Sony X80J. It has Sony’s 4K HDR X1 picture processor (not the X1 Extreme powering 2020 flagships), comes with Sony’s Triluminos Pro display and also rocks the all-new Google TV UI. Is it a worthy consideration for the asking price? 

Sony X80J Specs at a glance

Panel Size: 65-inch (also available in 43, 50, 55, and 75-inch as well) Panel Type: IPS LED Panel Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - 4K Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz HDR 10 support: Yes Dolby Vision Support: Yes Weight (with stand): approx. 21.6kgs HDMI Ports: 4 USB Ports: 2 Bluetooth: Yes Wi-Fi: Yes Ethernet: Yes Speakers: 20W (Bass Reflex Speaker, X-Balanced Speaker) Built-in storage: 16GB Price: MRP: 1,79,990. Best Price: Rs 1,34,990

Sony X80J Display and picture quality

Let's kick things off with the performance of the panel of the TV. It has an IPS panel which means you get wide viewing angles at the cost of deep blacks (more on that in a bit). The viewing angles are good unless you go to the absolute extreme. The TV can hit a peak brightness of a little over 400 nits but it hovers around the 350 nits mark for sustained use. It has a 4K resolution with support for HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. The panel can produce some really good colours thanks to the Triluminos Pro display, but how does it fare against the Sony X90J (review) with the XR processor we reviewed earlier and more importantly, against something like the Mi QLED TV 75 (review), which for a similar price, gives you a larger screen size with QLED backlighting with local dimming?

Sony X80J 4K and HDR performance

Firing up our Calman we can see that without calibration, the TV has an average delta error of 6.4 which is lower than what we’ve seen on some other TV, but higher than what we saw on the Sony X90J. Even with the 2-point grayscale, the error was high out of the box. However, the colour analysis shows an average delta error of 1.8 which is good. So, while the performance for colour accuracy may not be as good as the X90J out of the box, the panel performance is quite good for everyday content consumption. 

When we played our standard slew of HDR content on this TV, it just popped. In Our Planet on Netflix, you can see the stars in the night sky quite clearly and there were no dull or dark moments for HDR content. Even a movie like Ready Player One with the race at the 11-minute mark was a visual treat with its bright highlights.  

Even the slew of cars in the desert in the opening episode of the Grand Tour look rich without the green tint issue we’ve spoken off on so many other TVs. 

While the HDR effect isn’t as pronounced as what we’ve seen on the X90J, it’s better if not at par with some of the other TVs we’ve tested. We would have loved to have the Mi QLED TV next to this one, but alas, we no longer have it in our lab. Overall, the HDR output of the TV is good, giving you an immersive experience. For HDR 10 content, you have the same set of picture presets as SDR like Vivid, Standard, Cinema and more. We recommend the Cinema preset to get the best experience but you can switch to Standard as well. For Dolby Vision content you have Dolby Vision bright and Dolby Vision Dark and we recommend leaving it at Bright if you will consume content in a room with some bias lighting. 

Speaking of biased lighting, yes, since the TV does not have dimming zones, you do get the slight grey effect in dark sequences and it can be quite pronounced in a pitch-dark room. However, even a little bias lighting in the room can help eliminate this.

Sony X80J FHD performance

The SDR performance of this TV is very good. We saw our standard slew of content from Spider-Man: Homecoming to Young Sheldon and even Mission: Impossible and it’s a fun experience. Here, I’d say the Standard preset has the edge over Cinema for content like TV shows. In Young Sheldon, while the Cinema preset gave more accurate colours, the Standard preset had more of the visual punch one would expect for this type of content. For the movies, however, the Cinema preset worked well. While we generally tend to stay away from the Vivid preset, in this TV, the Vivid preset has the ability to make colours pop without making people look like they have jaundice and that is very good. For those of you that like the punchiness of Vivid, this TV may be the one for you. 

Even in Spider-Man Homecoming, we had Spidey's suit look the right shade of blue and red in both the Standard and Cinema preset with skin tones looking right. The preset changes the colour temperature to warm in cinema and makes the colours feel more natural. 

Sony X80J Gaming performance

We played our standard slew of games on this TV including God of War, Spider-Man Miles Morales (review), Dirt 5 (review) and some Last of Us Part 2 (review). The TV has HDMI 2.0 ports only with support for YUV422 for HDR content and has a refresh rate of 60Hz similar to the Mi QLED TV 75 we reviewed earlier. All the games we played on this TV looked really good. From the soft snow in the city in Spider-Man where the HDR pops while you are swinging towards the sun or even in Dirt 5 while racing in the tracks and the blinding sun coming at you. Even in God of War, the colours really pop on this TV. It was a fun gaming experience. 

Once again, it was in a totally dark room that the “grey” in the blacks were visible because of no dimming, but adding a bit of biased light to the room is a quick fix for this. Needless to say, for RGB HDR you will have to upgrade to the X90J in gaming thanks to HDMI 2.1. But those that want a larger size for the price, will be happy with the performance of this TV.  

Sony X80J Audio performance

The X80J can get quite loud to offer room-filling sound. Even at 40-45%, the audio was loud and clear in a large living room. While the speakers lack bass and some background scores in movies missed the punch, the overall sound quality is good. Dialogues are clear during movies, and mixed audio that has a conversation, with explosions in the background and a background score is distinguishable. Even the bangs and thuds in games hit the right notes. While a soundbar will definitely enhance the experience, you can enjoy the audio output from this TV for everyday TV viewing, some movies and gaming. 

Sony X80J UI

The UI here is identical to what we saw on the X90J with the absence of far-field mics. You have the same Google TV UI with the same fluidity and the same convenience of settings when switching picture presets when consuming content. The “For You” section which we’ve seen in the Google TV videos and photos online is not here. While the apps tab is replacing the Play Store for you to search for apps, there is no place for you to quickly go to see if an app needs an update. Just like the X90J, on the X80J I had to use the Google Assistant to navigate to the section where I can check for app updates. 

Once again HDMI ports 3 and 4 support enhanced format to enable 4K HDR gaming and I recommend you go and switch it on as soon as you set up this TV. You can do this by going to Settings - Channel & Inputs - External Inputs - HDMI Signal Format. Here select the enhanced format for the HDMI input. 

Sony X80J Remote control

The remote control is once again identical to what we got on the X90J with the slim candy bar form factor and textured back. You have OTT hotkeys for Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube along with playback controls. Overall, the remote is well built, functional and works well. 

Sony X80J Build and design

The build of the X80J is very similar to what we saw on the X90J. It has 2 tabletop feet that slot into place and the feet are very slim. The 65-inch TV fit on my table where most other 65-inch TVs didn’t, so that’s a very good thing. The TV does wobble a bit when probed, but then again, how often do you tap the TV once it’s set up? The feet also come with external clips you can use for cable management. The back has a simple design. 

The placement of the ports is pretty standard. They are all on the right side of the TV facing outwards. We have two USB ports, optical audio out, headphones port, AV port, four HDMI ports, ethernet port and a good old antenna. 

Sony X80J Bottom Line

Should you buy the Sony X80J? Well, it all depends on what you are looking for. The panel has very good performance for content consumption in HDR and SDR like movies and TV shows and is also good for gaming. In real work use, the TV performs very well giving good colour reproductions and an immersive experience. It does not have local dimming which affects its performance in a dark room, but a little bias lighting helps. The audio output is good too. While we tested the 65-inch variant of this TV, know that it is available in screen sizes from 43-inches up to 75-inches. As of writing this review, the 65-inch variant is priced at Rs 1,34,990. That’s similarly priced to the Sony 55-inch X90J which has better picture performance, local dimming and Sony’s new XR processor. So, you are getting newer technology and better performance at the cost of screen size with the X90J. On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Mi QLED TV 75 which, for a similar price as the 65X80J gives you QLED backlighting and local dimming along with a larger screen size. While the X80J has better colours than the Mi QLED TV, the Mi TVs local dimming is its strength for darkroom content consumption.

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