Qualcomm Targets Mid-Range Phones With Refreshed Snapdragon 427, 626 And 653
Qualcomm today rolled out three new entry-level and mid-range Snapdragon System-on-Chips (SoCs), among them the Snapdragon 472, 626,and 653. All three are based on previous edition Snapdragon processors within their same respective series and boast several upgraded features, better performance, and improved charge times.
The three new chips also bring a focus on connectivity. Each of the new Snapdragon parts feature an integrated Snapdragon X9 LTE modem with a Cat 7 downlink (300Mbps) and Cat 13 uplink (150Mbps), which Qualcomm says is engineered to achieve up to 50 percent faster upload speeds than X8 LTE.
Qualcomm also baked its Quick Charge 3.0 technology into its three new Snapdragon SoCs, which is designed to deliver power up to four times faster compared to traditional charging methods, and dual support for clear imaging and photos across a variety of lighting and shooting situations.
As to each individual SoC, the Snapdragon 653 is the "Pro" version of the Snapdragon 652. The 653 retains the 652's four Cortex-A72 processors, but with a higher max frequency at 1.95GHz versus 1.8GHz. Qualcomm didn't change the speed of the other four Cortex-A53 processors, which continue to run at 1.44GHz. Also unchanged is the Adreno 510 GPU.
Qualcomm doubled the amount of supported RAM to 8GB on the Snapdragon 653, a smart move considering that phone makers are pushing larger amounts of memory into their designs.
Moving into the middle, the Snapdragon 626 is the "Pro" version of the 652. Both have two sets of four Cortex-A53 processors, though Qualcomm goosed the frequency from 2GHz to 2.2GHz. It's not clear if there was any change in frequency to the Adreno 506 GPU.
Finally, the Snapdragon 427 slides into a busy range of 400-series Snapdragon chips and is nearly identical to the 425 with a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor running at up to 1.4GHz and an Adreno 30 GPU. The only thing that's different is the X9 LTE modem, an upgrade over the X6 LTE modem found in its predecessor.
Qualcomm says it expects the Snapdragon 653 and 626 to be available to customers this fall, followed by devices built around the new chips hitting retail early next year. There's no word on when devices running the Snapdragon 427 will show up.
The three new chips also bring a focus on connectivity. Each of the new Snapdragon parts feature an integrated Snapdragon X9 LTE modem with a Cat 7 downlink (300Mbps) and Cat 13 uplink (150Mbps), which Qualcomm says is engineered to achieve up to 50 percent faster upload speeds than X8 LTE.
Qualcomm also baked its Quick Charge 3.0 technology into its three new Snapdragon SoCs, which is designed to deliver power up to four times faster compared to traditional charging methods, and dual support for clear imaging and photos across a variety of lighting and shooting situations.
As to each individual SoC, the Snapdragon 653 is the "Pro" version of the Snapdragon 652. The 653 retains the 652's four Cortex-A72 processors, but with a higher max frequency at 1.95GHz versus 1.8GHz. Qualcomm didn't change the speed of the other four Cortex-A53 processors, which continue to run at 1.44GHz. Also unchanged is the Adreno 510 GPU.
Qualcomm doubled the amount of supported RAM to 8GB on the Snapdragon 653, a smart move considering that phone makers are pushing larger amounts of memory into their designs.
Moving into the middle, the Snapdragon 626 is the "Pro" version of the 652. Both have two sets of four Cortex-A53 processors, though Qualcomm goosed the frequency from 2GHz to 2.2GHz. It's not clear if there was any change in frequency to the Adreno 506 GPU.
Finally, the Snapdragon 427 slides into a busy range of 400-series Snapdragon chips and is nearly identical to the 425 with a quad-core Cortex-A53 processor running at up to 1.4GHz and an Adreno 30 GPU. The only thing that's different is the X9 LTE modem, an upgrade over the X6 LTE modem found in its predecessor.
Qualcomm says it expects the Snapdragon 653 and 626 to be available to customers this fall, followed by devices built around the new chips hitting retail early next year. There's no word on when devices running the Snapdragon 427 will show up.
