Today, Qualcomm announced three new chipsets from its mid-range lineups, including the 4, 6, and 7 series. Specifically, the new SoCs are the Snapdragon 460, 662, and 720G, and they"re aimed at the 4G LTE market. They also include features like Wi-Fi 6 support and integrated Bluetooth 5.1.
"While we see a fast adoption of 5G across geographies globally, we do recognize the phenomenal boost that 4G has given towards enabling broadband connectivity for Indian consumers. 4G will continue to remain a focus area for Qualcomm Technologies for regions like India, where it would stay as a key technology for connectivity," said Rajen Vagadia, vice president and president, Qualcomm India Pvt. Ltd. "Our goal is to enable our partners to continue creating solutions that offer seamless connectivity access and exceptional mobile experiences, that consumers can count on."
As always, the Snapdragon 460 sits on the lower end of the mid-tier spectrum. With eight Kryo 240 cores, Qualcomm is promising an incredible 70% performance boost, and this is because for the first time in the 400 series, it includes performance cores. Previously, all cores in the CPU were the same, but now it will use big.LITTLE with powerful cores and efficient cores.
It includes a Snapdragon X11 modem, as does the Snapdragon 662, for 390Mbps download speeds, and an Adreno 610 GPU for a 60% performance increase. The ISP is a Spectra 340, which supports 25MP cameras or dual 16MP cameras, and it has a Hexagon 683 DSP for the first time in the 4 series.
The Snapdragon 662 is made up of Kryo 260 cores, four of which are Cortex-A73 and four of which are Cortex-A53, and the Adreno 610 GPU. It also has a Hexagon 683 DSP, but the ISP is the Spectre 340T, which supports 48MP photo capture, HEIF, smooth zooming, and triple-lens cameras. The chipset also has support for Qualcomm FastConnect 6100.
And then there"s the Snapdragon 720G, which is at the high-end of the spectrum. The "G" is for gaming, meaning that it supports some features of the Snapdragon Elite Gaming Platform. The Kryo 465 CPU is promising a 60% performance boost, with two Cortex-A76 cores and six Cortex-A55 cores. And then, the Adreno 618 GPU promises a 75% performance increase.
It has a Hexagon 692 DSP with the Hexagon Tensor Accelator, and a Spectra 350L ISP that will get you 192MP photo capture, and 4K capture support. It has Quick Charge 4+ for a 50% charge in 15 minutes, and FastConnect 6200.
Snapdragon 720G devices are expected to arrive in Q1, while Snapdragon 662 and 460 devices will arrive by the end of the year.