Snapdragon Showdown: 800 Versus 801
As a Wi-Fi-only model, Sony’s Xperia Z2 Tablet naturally lacks a cellular component, so the actual SKU of the Snapdragon 801 inside the Z2 Tablet we tested is APQ8074AB.
In particular, we wanted to see how much faster, if at all, the 801 is compared to Snapdragon 800. So, we started off with the Google Nexus 5. Recognizing that device's lower native resolution (1080p versus the Z2’s 1200p), we balanced the comparison by adding Samsung's Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4” for its similar form factor and much higher 1600×2560 resolution. By measuring how resolution and GPU clock rate affect performance, we have a better sense of how the SoCs compare.
| Device | SoC | CPU Core | GPU Core | Memory | Display |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet | Qualcomm Snapdragon 801APQ8074AB | Qualcomm Krait 400 (quad-core) @ 2.3 GHz | Adreno 330 (quad-core) @ 578 MHz | 3 GB DDR3 @ 933 MHz | 10.1" IPS @ 1920x1080 (224 PPI) |
| Google Nexus 5 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 800MSM8974AA | Qualcomm Krait 400 (quad-core) @ 2.3 GHz | Adreno 330 (quad-core) @ 450 MHz | 2 GB DDR3 @ 800 MHz | 4.95" IPS+ @ 1920x1080 (445 PPI) |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 3 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 800MSM8974AB | Qualcomm Krait 400 (quad-core) @ 2.3 GHz | Adreno 330 (quad-core) @ 550 MHz | 3 GB DDR3 @ 933 MHz | 5.7" SAMOLED @ 1920x1080 (386 PPI) |
| Samsung Galaxy NotePro 8.4 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 800MSM8974AB | Qualcomm Krait 400 (quad-core) @ 2.3 GHz | Adreno 330 (quad-core) @ 550 MHz | 2 GB DDR3 @ 933 MHz | 8.4" WQXGA @ 2560x1600 (359 PPI) |
| Apple iPhone 5s | Apple A7 | ARM v8 (dual-core) @ 1.3 GHz | Imagination Technologies PowerVR G6430 (four-cluster) @ 300 MHz | 1 GB LPDDR3 @ ??? MHz | 4" IPS @ 1136x640 (326 PPI) |
Beyond the Qualcomm chipsets, we thought it would be interesting to see how the Snapdragon 801 fares against the current top-performing SoC, Apple’s A7, so we added the iPhone 5s as kind of a baseline backdrop to show where the various Snapdragon 80x SKUs stack up.
As we go through the tests, keep in mind that the unit we tested is a pre-production model, running non-final software. Performance data we captured might differ from what Sony ends up shipping. However, since this is our first taste of Snapdragon 801 (8074AB), and our tests do show some demonstrable performance improvements (at least on the GPU side), we feel that it is fair to share the results with our readers.