The company that makes chips for top Android phones announced its new model - here's what it means for Android phones in 2018

Qualcomm announced details of its new Snapdragon 845 mobile chip on Wednesday during its event in Hawaii, and it offers a good idea of what improvements and features we can expect from phones that will run on the new chips.

Timing-wise, Qualcomm expects the chip's release as soon as 2018, so we could potentially see the next generation of top Android devices from Samsung, Google, LG, HTC, and others running on the new Snapdragon 845 next year.

As expected, the chip should bring general improvements to performance and battery life. It'll also allow Android phone makers to improve photo and video capture quality, as well as improving the functionality of AR, VR, and mixed-reality applications. Smart AI assistants, like Google's Assistant, will also get an intelligence boost.

Check out what we can expect from Snapdragon 845-powered Android phones: