Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 Plus is about to give top Android phones launching in the second half of 2020 a performance boost. The chip is an enhanced version of the Snapdragon 865, with a faster CPU and better graphics performance, and could be found in the Samsung Galaxy Note 20.

Specifically, Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 865 Plus increases the core clock speed of the chipset's Kryo 585 Prime CPU by 10% to 3.1 GHz. The Adreno 650 GPU on the system-on-chip can render graphics 10% faster than the Snapdragon 865.

Asus has already announced that its ROG Phone 3 will be powered by the Snapdragon 865 Plus, a smartphone not mentioned in today's (July 8) announcement that could benefit greatly from the new silicon. Samsung's Galaxy Note 20 phablet, scheduled to appear next month, is rumored to be one of the phones that will run on the Snapdragon 865 Plus. (For its part, Qualcomm has been tight-lipped about which phones will feature the new processor, leaving such announcements to individual device manufacturers.)

Like the Snapdragon 865, the 865 Plus boasts 5G connectivity with an X55 5G modem, but it also has faster Wi-Fi performance. This new processor uses Qualcomm's FastConnect 6900 system, which supports speeds of 3.6 Gbps. This is achieved by extending Wi-Fi 6 performance to the 6 GHz band to reduce congestion and improve latency.

However, one of the Snapdragon 865 Plus' major areas of focus is mobile gaming. Not surprisingly, given that both the gaming-centric ROG Phone 3 and the Lenovo Legion series of mobile gaming devices have promised to feature this new chipset. [Snapdragon 865 Plus features include updateable GPU drivers (users can download GPU driver updates directly from the mobile app store), 10-bit HDR gaming, and 144 frames per second game play.

It also supports desktop forward rendering, allowing game makers to use desktop-quality lighting and post-processing effects in their mobile products.

Other new chipsets are expected to incorporate many of the features introduced in the Snapdragon 865 late last year. These include Qualcomm's fifth-generation AI engine for improved gameplay, real-time translation, and audio enhancements. The Snapdragon 865 Plus also includes Quick Charge AI, a battery health feature that promises to extend battery life cycles by up to 200 days.

More devices supporting the Snapdragon 865 Plus are expected in the next three months, Qualcomm said.