It was not too long ago when Qualcomm introduced refreshed versions of the processors that power lower-end devices, the Snapdragon 212 and Snapdragon 412, plus, the Snapdragon 616 was introduced a few hours later as their higher mid-range offering. All of those processors represented incremental updates when compared to their respective predecessor, in most cases some of their cores were clocked slightly faster. Now, the company has announced two new processors belonging to the Snapdragon 400 series, which has been the most popular choice among mid-range devices and the other belongs to the Snapdragon 600 series, which hasn’t been that popular, but features some interesting specifications like LTE capabilities and a powerful GPU.
The Snapdragon 430 is expected in early 2016, it is an octa-core processor with Cortex-A53 CPUs up to 1.2 GHz. It will be the first one in the 400 series to feature the latest generation Adreno 505 GPU, designed to deliver great visual performance while reducing battery consumption, plus, the Hexagon 536 DSP should help a little more. It features dual-ISPs, which allows to take pictures in up to 21 megapixels of resolution. The integrated X6 LTE modem with 2×10 Carrier Aggregation reaches Cat 4 speeds of 150 Mbps while downloading and Cat 5 speeds of 75 Mbps at the uploads.
The Snapdragon 617 will be found on some devices by the end of the year. It is an octa-core processor with Cortex-A53 CPUs clocked at speeds up to 1.5 GHz. It shares some specifications with some other processors of the Snapdragon 600, including the Adreno 405 GPU and Hexagon 546 DSP. It has been improved with the integration of the X8 LTE modem with Cat 7 download speeds up to 300 Mbps and 100 Mbps when uploading and 2×20 Carrier Aggregation. It also features dual-ISPs to support cameras of up to 21 megapixels. The similarities with other processors from the same category allow for software compatibility, making it easier for OEMs to integrate it into their devices. Both of these processors feature the new Quick Charge 3.0 for up to 4 times the charging speeds compared to traditional USB cables. What’s interesting is that the new processors bring some high-end features at a more affordable price range, so this could benefit smartphone sales which are already declining.