Qualcomm’s new mid-range and budget smartphone chips have an AI focus

Qualcomm has announced three new mobile processors that will grace a new generation of mid-range and budget smartphones in the coming years.

The company announced the Snapdragon 632, 439 and 429 chipsets at Mobile World Congress Shanghai today, promising the standard battery, performance and graphics improvements along with a new focus on AI capabilities.

Mid-range highlights

Snapdragon 632 joins the ranks of Qualcomm’s mid-range 600 series, which has powered over 1,350 designs as of March 31st, 2018.

The last 600-series launch was the Snapdragon 636, which brought with it support 18:9 displays and launched in October 2017. However, Qualcomm sees the 632 as more of a successor to the 626, which powered the Moto Z2 Play, among other devices.

Qualcomm estimates a 40 percent improvement in performance for smoother scrolling and interface use, and 10 percent faster game graphics rendering with its Adreno 506 GPU.

Additionally, it can support an up to 24-megapixel single camera or two 13-megapixel cameras, packs an X9 LTE modem for download speeds up to a theoretical 300Mbps and supports 192 kHz/24-bit Hi-Fi music playback.

It also touts its Hexagon 546 digital signal processor (DSP) for use in “smarter camera, voice and gaming experiences.”

Low-end upgrades

Meanwhile, the 439 and 429 bring AI to the low-end, with the ability to support on-device processing for AI applications.

The 439 is the successor to the 2015-released 430 (Moto G5, Asus ZenFone 4 Max). The 439 shrunk down to a 12-nanometer technology process, which makes the processor smaller and more efficient, thus improving on CPU and battery life to the tune of 25 percent each. It can support one 21-megapixel camera, or two 13-megapixel shooters.

The 429, the successor to 2016’s 425 (LG X Power 2, ZTE Grand X 4) was also shrunk to 12 nanometers, and promises 50 percent faster graphics rendering with the Adreno 504 and 25 percent improvement in power usage. It can support up to 16-megapixel single shooters, or 8-megapixel dual cameras.

Both stock an X6 LTE modem, delivering theoretical download speeds of up to 150Mbps.

Smartphones based on these three chipsets are expected to hit the market in the second half of 2018.

Below, see a breakdown of key specs for each new chipset.

Snapdragon 632

• CPU: 8x Kryo 250 CPU, clocked up to 1.8GHz
• GPU: Adreno 506
• Display: FHD+, 1920 x 1200 pixel
• Camera: Dual ISPs support — up to 24-megapixel single camera, 13+13-megapixel dual camera
• Video: 4K30 capture & playback
• Audio: VoLTE w/ Ultra HD voice, high fidelity music playback 192kHz/24-bit, Dolby 5.1 support, Qualcomm Aqstic & aptX technology
• Snapdragon X9 LTE Modem: Cat 7 downlink up to 300Mbps, Cat 13 uplink up to 150Mbps
• Connectivity: Integrated 802.11ac multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), USB 3.0, Bluetooth 5.0 + BLE
• Fast Charging: Quick Charge 3.0

Snapdragon 439

• CPU: 8x ARM Cortex A53 up to 1.95GHz
• GPU: Adreno 505
• Display: FHD+, 1920 x 1200 pixel
• Camera: Dual ISPs support — up to 21-megapixel single camera, 13+13-megapixel dual camera
• Video: 1080p capture (@ 30fps) & playback
• Audio: Qualcomm Aqstic and aptX technology
• Snapdragon X6 LTE Modem: Cat 4 downlink up to 150Mbps, Cat 5 uplink up to 75Mbps
• Connectivity: Integrated 802.11ac multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), USB 2.0, Bluetooth 5.0 + BLE
• Fast Charging: Quick Charge 3.0

Snapdragon 429

• CPU: 4x ARM Cortex A53, clocked up to 1.95GHz
• GPU: Adreno 504
• Display: HD+, 1140 x 720 pixel
• Camera: Dual ISPs support — up to 16-megapixel single camera, 8+8-megapixel dual camera
• Video: Up to 1080p capture (@ 30fps) & playback
• Audio: Qualcomm Aqstic and aptX technology
• Snapdragon X6 LTE Modem: Cat 4 downlink up to 150Mbps, Cat 5 uplink up to 75Mbps
• Connectivity: Integrated 802.11ac multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), USB 2.0, Bluetooth 5.0 + BLE
• Fast Charging: Quick Charge 3.0