Qualcomm has announced a series of new Snapdragon platforms, designed to boost the power and efficiency of mid-range and higher-end smartphones.
The Snapdragon 632, 439 and 429 platforms will appear on devices throughout the second half of this year, the US chipmaker says.
All three platforms are “engineered to bring higher performance, better battery life, more efficient designs, impressive graphics and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into the highest-selling Snapdragon tiers,” the company said in a media release.
Let’s start with the Snapdragon 632. Qualcomm says it will sit on devices offering 4K video capture, Full HD+ screens and artificial intelligence-based features.
Related: Snapdragon 850 – what you need to know
It promises a 40% increase in performance compared to the Snapdragon 625 SoC, which Qualcomm says is possible thanks to the Kryo 250 CPU and Adreno 506 GPU. It includes the X9 LTE model for super-fast 4G speeds, and support for 24-megapixel single cameras or a pair of 13-megapixel rear-facing cameras.
While Qualcomm says this chip is intended for high-end phones, it’s likely we’ll see it take form in the mid-range and offerings slightly above. For example, the Snapdragon 630 it replaces appears in phones such as the Nokia 6.1, Sony Xperia XA2, Moto G6 Plus, HTC U11 Lite and the Asus ZenFone 5 Lite. We’d expect the devices incorporating the Snapdragon 632 to be more of that ilk.
Keeping it 400
As for the Snapdragon 439 and 429 processors, they’re replacing the Snapdragon 430 and Snapdragon 425 platforms, according to Qualcomm’s release. They’ll offer a 25% power boost over their predecessors and the X6 LTE modem.
The Snapdragon 439 has an octa-core CPU, combined with the Adreno 505 GPU offering a 20% improvement in graphics rendering. The platform supports FHD+ displays and 21-megapixel single cameras (or a pair of 8-megapixel snappers).
As for the Snapdragon 429’s prowesss, the Adreno 504 GPU improves upon graphics rendering time by 50%, it will support HD displays and 16-megapixel single cameras (or an 8+8-megapixel dual-camera)
We can probably expect the new 400-series platforms to appear on devices akin to the Moto G6 Play, Huawei Honor 7A and Nokia 5.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
