At the beginning of 2021, we saw the first phones land with the then-latest Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, the Snapdragon 888. Later, Qualcomm launched a “Plus” version of that chipset, with slightly faster speeds. That, of course, begets the question: when comparing the Snapdragon 888 vs 88 Plus, just how much faster is the newer model?
That’s a great question for our own Gary Sims! Using his Speed Test G suite, Gary conducted speed tests on two incredibly similar phones with the two chips: the Asus ROG Phone 5 (888) and the Asus ROG Phone 5S Pro (888 Plus).
See also: Our full Asus ROG Phone 5 review
Unsurprisingly, the Snapdragon 888 vs 888 Plus bout ends with the newer model winning. However, it only wins by about 3.3 seconds. That represents a speed increase of less than 5%, which isn’t really too much. In other words, if you have a phone with a Snapdragon 888 you shouldn’t be too concerned with upgrading to an 888 Plus phone.
It will be interesting to see how next year’s flagship — presumably the Snapdragon 898 — will fare in our speed tests. For now, check out the Snapdragon 888 vs 888 Plus battle for yourself in the video above, and click below for more bouts!