Other Snapdragon 865+ flagship phones (2020) Review

CPU performance: better multi‑core, weaker single‑core versus Apple's A13

Tom's Guide's coverage of the Snapdragon 865 concluded it narrowed the performance gap with Apple's A13 Bionic in benchmarks and offered strong results in multi‑threaded workloads; community commentary on Quora likewise notes that A13 retained a single‑core advantage over Snapdragon 865/865+. Geekbench (Android benchmark data) is the standard public comparator for Android devices and is used to place Android SoCs on a relative scale — the platform shows Snapdragon 865 devices clustered among 2020 flagships listed by NanoReview.

That means for CPU‑bound multi‑threaded tasks typical of heavy multitasking or some gaming workloads, Snapdragon 865 phones delivered competitive results for Android in 2020; for single‑threaded tasks and several real‑world media workloads Tom's Guide found Apple's A13 still leads, so users prioritizing single‑thread peak speed or the fastest possible video editing on-device tended to prefer the A13 platform.

Adreno 650 brought noticeable graphics headroom but results varied by device

Notebookcheck documents the Snapdragon 865 pairing with the Adreno 650 GPU; Tom's Guide reported that on at least one graphics benchmark the 865 platform set the pace among Android competitors. That translated into improved synthetic GPU scores and better frame‑rate headroom in titles where drivers and thermal headroom allowed the GPU to run close to peak.

Because the 865 was used across many OEM designs (see NanoReview's list of Poco F2 Pro, S20 FE 5G, OnePlus 8T, Mi 10T, Oppo Find X3 Neo), real‑world gaming differed by implementation: devices with stronger cooling and balanced power curves extracted more of the Adreno 650's potential, while tighter designs could throttle earlier.

Wide OEM adoption across 2020 flagships gave buyers real choice

NanoReview's Snapdragon 865 listing highlights multiple mainstream flagship models from 2020 that used the same SoC — Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, OnePlus 8T, Xiaomi Mi 10T and Oppo Find X3 Neo appear in its ranked list. That breadth meant buyers could pick from different screen, camera and chassis implementations while keeping the same SoC performance envelope.

Notebookcheck also shows the 865's versatility: beyond phones it has been used in handheld devices (an example they cite is a gaming handheld with a 7" display and 450 g weight) which underscores the chip's applicability across mobile form factors where raw CPU/GPU throughput was prioritized.

Benchmarks improved but Apple A13 kept a real‑world editing edge

Tom's Guide's tests indicate that while Snapdragon 865 improved Android benchmark parity in synthetic workloads and some graphics tests, Apple's A13 Bionic continued to deliver superior performance in real‑world media tasks such as video editing. The takeaway: synthetic GPU or CPU scores can favor the 865 in certain tests, but end‑user tasks that rely on single‑thread efficiency or platform optimizations still favoured A13.

Geekbench's Android benchmark index is helpful for relative comparison across Android devices, but as Tom's Guide demonstrates, merging synthetic scores with real‑world workflows is necessary to understand day‑to‑day performance differences between platforms.

Community threads questioned tradeoffs and OEM implementation

Public forum discussion captured in a Reddit thread titled 'The Snapdragon 865 will make phones worse in 2020' shows there was noticeable community pushback at launch — not necessarily about the silicon's peak numbers but about how OEM decisions (thermal design, power curves, feature tradeoffs) shaped the end product. Those discussions remain part of the historical context for the 865 generation.

That means buyer experience often depended on the specific phone model: the same SoC could feel faster or slower depending on tuning, thermals and firmware, so consult device‑level reviews rather than relying solely on the SoC name when choosing a 2020 flagship.

Pros & Cons

• ✅ Broad OEM adoption in 2020 — used in models such as Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, OnePlus 8T, Xiaomi Mi 10T and Oppo Find X3 Neo (NanoReview)
• ✅ Adreno 650 GPU delivered strong synthetic graphics performance; Tom's Guide reported the 865 led on at least one graphics benchmark
• ✅ Improved multi‑core CPU performance narrowed the gap with Apple's A13 in many benchmark scenarios (Tom's Guide)
• ✅ Platform versatility — documented use in phones and at least one 7" handheld device weighing ~450 g (Notebookcheck)

• ❌ Single‑core CPU performance trailed Apple's A13 Bionic, which remained faster in single‑threaded benchmarks (Tom's Guide; Quora summaries)
• ❌ Tom's Guide found Apple A13 still ahead in real‑world video editing tests, so editing workflows were not fastest on 865 phones
• ❌ Community reports flagged OEM implementation and tradeoffs—Reddit discussion raised concerns that some 865 phones underperformed due to thermal and tuning choices

How It Compares to the Competition

• Apple iPhone 11 (A13 Bionic) — A13 retains a single‑core and real‑world media performance advantage over Snapdragon 865 despite the 865's multi‑core and GPU gains (Tom's Guide, Quora).
• Xiaomi Poco F2 Pro — A representative 2020 flagship using Snapdragon 865 — shares the SoC performance profile while differing on thermal, camera and chassis choices (NanoReview).
• Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G — Another OEM implementation of Snapdragon 865 that offers a different balance of cooling and features compared with other 865 phones (NanoReview).
• OnePlus 8T — OnePlus's 2020 flagship variant with Snapdragon 865 — another alternative where software and thermal tuning affect how much of the SoC's performance is realized (NanoReview).

Who Should Buy This & Who Should Skip It

Buy it if: Buyers who want a 2020 Android flagship with solid multi‑core throughput and improved GPU performance should consider phones built on Snapdragon 865 — wide OEM adoption (Poco F2 Pro, S20 FE 5G, OnePlus 8T, Mi 10T, Oppo Find X3 Neo) gives choice of screen, camera and chassis without changing the SoC profile.

Skip it if: If your priority is the highest single‑core speed or the fastest on‑device video editing, Apple devices with the A13 Bionic outperformed Snapdragon 865 in Tom's Guide's real‑world tests; also skip a generic '865 phone' if you can't verify the specific model's thermal and tuning choices via device reviews.