Qualcomm announce Snapdragon 625, 435 and 425 chips
Ever since the smartphone and tablet revolution started, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and Samsung’s Exynos have been at the forefront of innovation in chipset design. Qualcomm’s 6-series turned out to be a super hit for midrange smartphones and tables while 4-series is well used for budget smartphones. Today, Qualcomm has announced Snapdragon 625, 435, 425 processors, delivering premium-tier experience to mainstream market. All three chips will support LTE, 802.11ac Wi-FI, Quick Charge technologies. The chips will be available for sampling in middle of the year 2016 and devices will be out in second half of the year.
Snapdragon 625 is built on 14nm FinFET fabrication and has an octa core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU, Adreno 506 GPU, integrated X9 LTE modem. Thanks to the new fabrication technology, Snapdragon 625 consumes 35% less power compared to previous generation chip. Snapdragon 435 also comes with ARM Cortex A53 CPU, an Adreno 505 GPU, X8 LTE modem. Snapdragon 425 on the other hand comes with a quad core Cortex-A53 cpu, Adreno 308 GPU and X6 LTE modem.
Featureset:
- Snapdragon 625: In addition to a dramatic increase in performance, the Snapdragon 625 is the first in its class of Snapdragon processors to use 14 nm FinFET technology, yielding up to a 35 percent reduction in power consumption compared to the previous generation. It incorporates an octa-core ARM® Cortex®-A53 CPU and includes an integrated X9 LTE modem, supporting 4G+. With peak upload speeds of 150 Mbps – 3x as fast as traditional LTE devices – the X9 LTE modem supports faster sharing of the superior videos and photos made possible by the Snapdragon 625 processor’s cutting-edge, premium-tier camera capabilities. These include superior 4K high-efficiency video coding recording and playback, even in low light conditions. It also supports dual high-resolution cameras, 24 megapixel photos, and up to 13 megapixel selfies, supporting higher-quality, low light snapshots and advanced post-processing features such as re-focus, advanced editing and special effects. Finally, the 625 supports PC-class graphics with the Qualcomm® Adreno™ 506 graphics processing unit (GPU), which is designed to support the Vulkan™ API*.
- Snapdragon 435: The new Snapdragon 435 integrates an octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU and is the first in its class to integrate the X8 LTE modem, supporting 4G+, with 2×20 MHz carrier aggregation for faster downlink (up to 300 Mbps) and uplink (up to 100 Mbps) LTE speeds. It supports a smooth 1080p user interface with 60 frames per-second, dual ISPs enabling 21 megapixel photos and advanced features like hybrid autofocus and is a leader in image quality in this tier. It also includes the Adreno 505 GPU for PC-class graphics.
- Snapdragon 425: The Snapdragon 425 ups the entry point for the 400 tier and provides a solid upgrade path for the Snapdragon 410 and 412 customers with a 64-bit, quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU, an Adreno 308 GPU, and HD display at 60 frames per-second. The dual ISPs enabling 16 megapixel photos support an improved camera and video experience. Several premium computer vision features are supported for the first time in this Snapdragon tier enabling advanced visual experiences. The 425 also includes an integrated X6 LTE modem with 2×10 MHz carrier aggregation and upload speeds up to 75 Mbps with 64-QAM to allow for cost-effective smartphones designed with high-speed LTE connectivity for China and emerging regions.
“We develop all of our processor technologies with scalability in mind, so that we can quickly and cost effectively accelerate the availability of premium tier capabilities within the rest of our portfolio of Snapdragon processors, making superior user experiences more accessible to a broader range of consumers,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “This approach allows us to quickly expand our custom feature development, rapidly deploy compatible software across tiers, and enhance our ability to integrate application and connectivity solutions with leading user experiences to meet our customers’ needs at multiple price points quickly and effectively.”
