Chinese company LeTV is the first to start teasing a smartphone using Qualcomm’s next major processor, the Snapdragon 820. It’s considerably ahead of the game, because the 820 has only recently been officially detailed by Qualcomm, and isn’t expected to be ready for sale until next year.
A teaser image posted on the firm’s Hong Kong Facebook page shows someone presenting the outline of a big-screen smartphone with “820” written in the center. LeTV describes the Snapdragon 820 as “the ultimate,” and indicates the new phone will be built around its capabilities.
In another leak published in China, the Snapdragon 820 smartphone will supposedly be named the Le Max 2, the successor to the original phablet. 6GB of RAM will come alongside the Snapdragon 820 processor. Those are monster specs, especially since the report also claims LeTV is planning to announce the smartphone before the end of the year, which would be before the Snapdragon 820 launch.
LeTV might be planning to announce the smartphone a few months before the official launch, to push the Le Max 2 in front of Xiaomi’s Mi 5, also expected to use the Snapdragon 820 processor.
Other specs for the Le Max 2 include a 5.7-inch 2,560 x 1,440-pixel display and a 23-megapixel rear camera. The camera will apparently be a Sony IMX300 sensor, with a f/2.0 aperture and 0.1 second superfast autofocus, the same sensor added to the Xperia Z5.
LeTV is a newcomer to the smartphone scene, and only announced its first devices back in April. The Le Superphone has a Snapdragon 810 inside, and although we’re still waiting for a final release date for the device, the intention is to put it on sale in the U.S. LeTV isn’t well-known outside China, but it’s a well-established company with 5,000 employees, and operates a streaming media network that will be part of its phone package.
And why would LeTV be so keen to talk about a Snapdragon 820-powered smartphone? Well, the 820 is set to be a considerable upgrade over the 808 and 810 chips we’re using at the moment. It’ll come with Qualcomm’s next-generation graphics chip that improves performance while delivering a 40-percent drop in power consumption, and a new camera system called Spectra, which will bring a range of additional benefits. These includes better image quality, low-light performance, and support for the simultaneous use of three cameras.
Qualcomm says devices powered by an 820 will arrive during the first half of 2016. That’s a pretty big window, and gives LeTV from six months to nearly a year of preparation time. There could be quite a wait before the company reveals anything else, but we’ll keep you updated here.
