Qualcomm
announced the launch of its latest system-on-chips in the Snapdragon
600 and Snapdragon 400 series, which will be targetting mid-range and
entry-level handsets with advanced LTE chips. The four chipsets released
by Qualcomm include Snapdragon 618, 620 from the Snapdragon 600 series
and Snapdragon 415 and 425 from the Snapdragon 400 series.
While
Qualcomm’s high end chipset, the Snapdragon 810 is already present in
phones such as LG G Flex 2 and Xiaomi Mi Note Pro, but thanks to the
high price of these handsets, they are targetted at a limited audience.
The mid-range and entry-level market is where the main volumes lie and
Qualcomm wants a pie of this huge segment which is currently seeing a
lot of competition from its rival MediaTek.
Qualcomm
has also removed the Gobi branding from its LTE modems. All future
Qualcomm LTE modems will come under the Snapdragon branding. The naming
convention will involve an X followed by a number. The higher the
number, the speedier the LTE connection.
Snapdragon 415 and 425: Brings octa-core CPUs to Snapdragon 400 series
Snapdragon
400 series SoCs have been seen in a lot of entry level handsets,
specially the Snapdragon 410 chipset. With the Snapdragon 415 and 425,
Qualcomm is getting an octa-core chipset in the Snapdragon 400 series
for the first time. Both will feature the eight-core Cortex A53
processors. Built on the 28nm manufacturing process, both these chipsets
will be compatible with the 64-bit instruction set.
Some
of the top features that will be seen on the 415 and 425 includes dual
image signal processors (ISPs) to improve camera speeds in the mid-range
and entry-level smartphones. Both will feature Qualcomm’s Quick Charge
2.0 feature, which lets you charge your phones at a rapid rate.
The
graphics section will also get a boost, with the Adreno 405 being the
main GPU, which is currently present on the Snapdragon 615 SoC. This
means DirectX 11.2 support for Windows handsets, hardware decode support
for 1080p H.265 video and it will support up to full HD display
resolutions.
The
main difference between the Snapdragon 415 and 425 chipsets is the LTE
modems used. The 415 comes with the X5 LTE modem which supports download
/ upload speeds of 150 / 50 Mbps, also known as Cat4 speeds. The
Snapdragon 425 on the other hand includes X8 LTE modem which gives
download / upload speeds of 300 / 100 Mbps. Now these are theoretical
speeds, the real life speeds will of course be less. While the phones
sporting the Snapdragon 415 will be seen in the first half of the year,
those with the Snapdragon 425 will be seen only in the second half.
Snapdragon 618 and 620: Will cater to the mid-range segment with Cortex A72 processors
The
Snapdragon 618 and 620 will be the first chipsets from Qualcomm that
will house the Cortex A72 processors. According to ARM, the Cortex A72
is twice as fast as the Cortex A57 which is seen on the Snapdragon 810
chipset. So in effect, the Snapdragon 800 level performance can be
expected from the 618 and 620 SoCs when they start coming out in
handsets in the second half of 2015.
The
Snapdragon 618 will house two Cortex A72 cores and four smaller Cortex
A53 cores in a 6-core bit.LITTLE configuration. Similarly, the higher
end Snapdragon 620 will have four Cortex A72 cores and four Cortex A53
cores making it an octa-core processor sporting SoC. Qualcomm hasn’t
given much details on the GPU part that is being employed, but says that
it will be a next-gen Adreno GPU.
On
the feature front, both the 618 and 620 chipsets will get support for
4K video capture and playback and it will support the H.265 hardware
decode support. It will also feature support for Quick Charge 2.0 and
dual image signal processors. On the display front, the two chipsets can
support up to 2K phone displays as well as 4K external displays. Both
the chipsets will also come with the X8 LTE modem which will give
download / upload speeds of 300 / 100 Mbps. Handsets sporting these SoCs
will be seen in the second half of 2015.
Posted by : Gizmeon
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