Qualcomm Incorporated, on Thursday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., has introduced four new Qualcomm Snapdragon processors aimed at enhancing user experience and connectivity for high-performance and high-volume mobile devices. The new Snapdragon 620 and Snapdragon 618 processors are redefining the 600 tier with significantly higher levels of performance with integrated 64-bit ARM Cortex A-72 CPUs and the new X8 LTE modem. The new Snapdragon 425 and Snapdragon 415 processors both feature octa-core CPUs, a first for the 400 tier.
The Snapdragon 425 doubles LTE download and upload speeds with the X8 LTE modem, another first in the 400 tier, as well as advanced camera features with dual ISPs and high-fidelity audio, while the Snapdragon 415 processor integrates X5 LTE, supporting download speeds of up to 150 Mbps. The Snapdragon 415 chipset is sampling now and expected to be in commercial devices in first half of 2015. The Snapdragon 620, 618 and 425 processors are expected to be in commercial devices in the second half of 2015.
“It has always been Qualcomm Technologies’ strategy to introduce industry-leading features first at the premium Snapdragon 800 tier design point, and then scale these features into our Snapdragon 600, 400 and 200 products, so that we can help our customers deliver great user experiences to cost-conscious consumers. We are excited to announce the Snapdragon 620 and 618 processors with next-generation graphics, camera, 4K video capture and connectivity, all premium tier features previously only found in our Snapdragon 800 class products. The Snapdragon 620 and 618 also both come with X8 LTE, as does the Snapdragon 425, marking the first time we’ve supported this amazingly fast speed at the 400 tier,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies.
As part of this announcement, Qualcomm Technologies also has extended its flagship brand, Snapdragon, to its discrete modem chipsets, and introduced LTE modem classes (including X8 and X5) across its latest system-on-chip and discrete modem products for mobile devices. The new X8 LTE modem, which supports both downlink and uplink Carrier Aggregation, supporting peak download speeds of up to 300 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 100 Mbps. X8 LTE connectivity supports wideband (up to 40 MHz) downlink and uplink carrier aggregation for the first time in the 600 and 400 tiers. X5 LTE, found in the Snapdragon 415, features integrated 4G LTE Cat 4.
The Snapdragon 620 and 618 processors also include features previously only available in the Snapdragon 800 tier, including dual ISP camera, 4K video capture and playback, HEVC hardware encoding, richer gaming with next-generation Qualcomm Adreno graphics and advanced Wi-Fi connectivity. All of the new processors are designed to enhance the consumer user experience and are available with the latest camera features, amazing download speeds and fast-charging with Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0 technology.
The new Snapdragon 620 and 618 processors integrate superior user experiences for high-tier mobile devices, while maintaining superior battery performance, including:
• X8 LTE connectivity: Seamless, always-on connectivity with LTE Cat 7 modem supporting 2x20 MHz Carrier Aggregation for data speeds of up to 300 and 100 Mbps, in the download and upload, respectively. Single SKU global multimode LTE design capable of LTE Broadcast, LTE dual SIM, and VoLTE
• Superior performance: Fast responsiveness, application loading, web browsing and file access are made possible with high-end 64-bit Cortex-A72 CPUs. Snapdragon 620 combines 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 CPUs and Cortex-A53 cores; Snapdragon 618 is configured with two ARM Cortex-A72 cores paired with quad Cortex |