According to new rumors, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 chipset will bring superior battery life and gaming performance to the Samsung Galaxy S21 and other Android flagships. And it should add heat to the less durable iPhone 12 lineup.

Leaker Ice Universe recently tweeted encouraging claims about the power consumption and GPU of the Snapdragon 888 chipset in the S21. For Android-oriented phone users who have been waiting to upgrade to a new flagship phone, this seems like great news, albeit with a few caveats.

The advantage of improved power consumption is straightforward: the more frugal 5nm chip means longer charging intervals. Combine this with the high-capacity batteries rumored to be in the S21 series (4,000 mAh, 4,800 mAh, and 5,000 mAh for the S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra), and you should have a phone with excellent longevity.

Looking at the iPhone 12's battery life on various models, it mostly falls behind the Galaxy S20 series: in a web surfing test using 5G, the S20 lasted 9 minutes 21 seconds, while the regular iPhone 12 lasted 8 hours 25 minutes. The Galaxy S20 Plus was 10 minutes and 31 seconds, while the iPhone 12 Pro was 9 minutes and 6 seconds. The iPhone 12 Pro Max and S20 Plus Ultra also recorded an impressive 10 minutes 53 seconds and 12 minutes 03 seconds, respectively.

Keep in mind, however, that the S20 series' runtimes are shorter when the 120Hz screen mode is on. The regular S20 lagged the iPhone 12 by 21 minutes, the S20 Plus by about 10 minutes, and the S20 Ultra by 1 hour 40 minutes; the S21 Ultra is expected to feature a dynamic display, which should contribute to overall efficiency

so overall, the Galaxy S21 series should be able to outperform the iPhone 12 model in battery life.

In terms of GPU performance, the Snapdragon 888 Promise features an Adreno 660 GPU, which is said to be 35% faster at rendering graphics and 20% more power efficient than last year's chip. This performance increase is the largest to date for the Adreno GPU and bodes well for gamers who purchase the Galaxy S21.

We are particularly interested in gaming applications, as Samsung partnered with Xbox at the launch of the Galaxy Note 20 to ensure support for Xbox Game Pass streaming. With access to all the new AAA titles Microsoft can offer, the GPU boost will be invaluable in getting smooth, gorgeous gameplay from the S21.

According to the latest rumors, the Galaxy S21 will launch on January 14; other notable new features of the Snapdragon 888 include a refreshed design, S Pen support on the S21 Ultra, and dual rear telephoto cameras with 3x and 10x zoom.