Galaxy S10 chip kills it in our early Snapdragon 855 benchmarking tests

id="article-body" class="row" section="article-body"> The Galaxy S10's Snapdragon 855 chipset could dominate with up to 45 percent faster performance speeds compared to the Galaxy S9 when Samsung unveils its next flagship phone this Wednesday in San Francisco. This isn't just Qualcomm talking. At CES last month, we got a chance to test Snapdragon 855 on a prototype phone. So far, the benchmarking results paint the picture of an incredibly fast device that leaves the galaxy a70 antutu score S9 and LG V40 in the dust.

Qualcomm typically gives a small group of journalists the opportunity to run a slew of common benchmarking tests on a phone called a reference device. You can think of it as a working prototype that Qualcomm uses in part to test the latest Snapdragon chip with the camera, apps, 5G network trials and so on. While the reference device isn't a finished phone that will sell under a brand name -- unlike a prototype for hawei mate 20 antutu score Samsung's foldable phone, for instance -- it's extremely useful for seeing how a phone running on the Snapdragon 855 might act.

Qualcomm is the world's largest chip maker for mobile phones, which means that the Snapdragon 855 will come to many of the highest-end Android phones in 2019. But Qualcomm isn't alone. Samsung and Huawei, the top two phone makers, manufacture their own in-house chips, too -- though only a small number of Samsung phones use its homegrown Exynos chip.

The Snapdragon 855 should make graphics run about 20 percent faster on Android phones.

Angela Lang/CNET Meanwhile, Apple uses its own A-series CPUs in the iPhone -- Apple designs them, and TSMC or other partners manufacture them. What about that big Apple/Qualcomm brouhaha, then? Yes, the iPhone company is currently engaged in an FTC suit against Qualcomm for allegedly operating a monopoly in the mobile chip space and Samsung galaxy note 9 antutu score galaxy s8 plus antutu benchmark a50 antutu charging excessive licensing fees. But those are the modem chips that the phones use to communicate on cellular wireless networks. Apple has shifted to using Intel as its modem supplier while the Qualcomm issue works its way through the courts -- though that may well delay Apple's path to a 5G iPhone, Apple said during the trial.

But back to CPUs. Like I said, the Snapdragon 855 is expected to process CPU tasks 45 percent faster than last year's Snapdragon 845, the one plus 6 antutu score on the Galaxy S9. It's projected to process graphics 20 percent faster, too. My test results from the Snapdragon 855 just about fit the claim, samsung a40s antutu ranging from an average of 19 percent to 45 percent faster than two phones using Snapdragon 845 (see chart below).