Three of these are 5G and only one is 4G. Essentially, they are upgrades to previous chipsets released by Qualcomm
With Mediatek basically owning the smartphone processor race at this point, Qualcomm is playing catch-up. And to prove they aren’t dead, they released four new midrange processors essentially created in response to the newer Dimensity chipsets released by the former company.
Out of the four, only one is stuck using 4G, that is the Snapdragon 680, which is a slightly upgraded SD678 that is seen on phones like the Redmi Note 10. The other three are upgrades to existing midrange processors. Ya know, just like how Mediatek does it for some of their Helio and Dimensity chipsets.
Snapdragon 778G+
The Snapdragon 778G+ 5G is the upgraded version of the regular Snapdragon 778G, which is a manufacturer favourite owing to a balance of performance, power consumption and AI processing between a midranger and a flagship. Like the SD778G, the SD778G+ is based on a 6nm process. The chipset supports up to LPDDR5 RAM and up to 3200MHz memory speeds. In terms of CPU, it has eight 64-bit Kryo 670 CPU cores with a clock speed of up to 2.5GHz. In comparison to the previous gen, this SoC boasts a 20% boost in performance.
The chipset also supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4+ which they say can charge a phone from empty to half in fifteen minutes, so in that case, a phone with this SoC can theoretically charge from empty to full in 30 minutes. In terms of GPU, it is identical to the SD778G, using a Adreno 642L GPU.
In terms of camera, the processor uses the Spectra 570L image processor and up to 22mp triple camera. Manufacturers were able to put more than 22mp in their phones thanks to pixel binning. And speaking of pixel binning, the processor can shoot up to 192mp of resolution photo and can record 4K video. For slow motion, up to 720p@240fps is supported.
For display, the chipset can natively support FHD+ resolution with up to 144Hz refresh rate, and externally, 4K@60Hz.
Like the SD778G, this SoC uses the Snapdragon X53 5G modem and supports sub-6GHz frequencies. In terms of Wi-Fi connectivity, Qualcomm said that this processor supports dual-band Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi 6 with speeds up to 2.9Gbps. In terms of download speeds, the X53 modem has a peak speed of 3.7Gbps and a peak upload speed of 1.6Gbps
According to 91mobiles, Xiaomi will soon launch a phone with Snapdragon 778G+ and Snapdragon 695 5G chipsets. This could be one of the upcoming Redmi Notes which is due to launch later in the day.
Snapdragon 480+ 5G
The Snapdragon 480 5G is the company’s entry-level 5G chipset. But don’t let that fool you, it’s performance is actually on par to some midrange chipsets like the Snapdragon 632 and the Mediatek Dimensity 700. One OEM which is a frequent user of this chipset is Nokia. Now, Qualcomm has announced an upgrade, and its performance is now identical to the Mediatek Dimensity 800U.
As a 5G chipset, the chipset uses the Snapdragon X51 modem that also supports both mmWave 5G and sub-6GHz frequencies. The difference between this modem and the X53 is the upload and down speeds. The X51 has 800Mbps peak download speeds on LTE and 2.5Gbps on 5G. The upload speed is 210Mbps for LTE and when using 5G frequencies, the upload speed can be as high as 1.5Gbps. In simpler terms, this modem is slightly slower than the X53.
In addition to its 5G capabilities, the processor supports dual-band Wi-Fi, both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies and up to Bluetooth 5.2 through its Qualcomm FastConnect 6200 Wi-Fi system. It also supports QC4+ for fast charging.
Like the SD480, this new iteration is based on an 8nm process and also uses an octa-core CPU comprising of the Kryo 460 CPU cores clocked up to 2.2GHz. This chipset also uses the Adreno 619 GPU for graphics, like its predecessor.
In terms of display, it supports both HD+ (900 x 1600 @ 120 Hz) and FHD+ (1080 x 2520 @ 120 Hz) resolution.
In terms of camera, the processor uses the Spectra 345 ISP which is a 12-bit ISP. This Image Signal Processor (ISP) can take a single 64mp photo resolution, and up to 13mp triple camera. It can record slow motion for up to 720p@120fps.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 695
The Snapdragon 695 is a direct upgrade to the SD690 that was announced last year and started on appearing on midrange phones released on the same year. This processor acts as a “stop-gap” between the 6 series and the higher-end 7 series processors.
The SD695, like the SD690, uses a Snapdragon X51 modem with support for mmWave 5G and sub-6GHz frequencies. Like every processor released recently, it supports dual-band Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi 6 through the FastConnect 6200 system.
This processor is based on a 6nm process and like the others, is an octa-core chipset comprising of Kryo 660 CPU clocked up to 2.2GHz. It uses the Adreno 619 GPU for graphics processing. This results in a 15% faster CPU processing and 30% faster graphics rendering.
In terms of ISP, this one uses the Spectra 346T that can capture three 13mp photos all at the same time. With a single camera, it can take images with up to 108mp resolution, hence the reason why some midrange phones with the older SD690 has a 64mp or higher-res main camera.
In terms of video, the processor can record up to 1080p@60fps on a single camera, and up to 720p@30fps when taking videos on all three cameras at once.
Like the other two, this chipset supports QC4+ and Bluetooth 5.2
Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G
4G chipsets, believe it or not, are still in high demand, and hence the reason why semiconductor manufacturers couldn’t just drop them. In some countries, even the most affordable 5G phone is still quite expensive to purchase, and manufacturers just couldn’t afford to put a 5G phone under the “budget” category without having to sacrifice a lot of things.
If you may recall, the SD678 is a direct upgrade over the Snapdragon 665 and has appeared on phones like the Redmi Note 10. Qualcomm has announced a slightly better upgrade called the SD680. Again, without support for 5G, probably to keep costs down.
The processor is based on a 6nm process that is significantly better than the previous 11nm process the SD678 has, and according to Qualcomm, has a 20% overall battery improvement performance in contrast to its predecessor. Unlike the other three, this processor supports only up to QC3+ which has a slower rate (80% in 35 minutes).
In terms of cores, it is an octa-core processor consisting of the Kryo 265 CPU cores clocked up to 2.4GHz. It uses the Adreno 610 GPU for graphics processing. Based on the overview Qualcomm has given, this SoC is more focused on energy preservation than raw performance.
It uses the Snapdragon X11 modem for connectivity, which has a peak upload speed of 150Mbps and a peak down speed of 390Mbps.
It uses the Spectra 346 ISP for image processing. In a single camera, this ISP can capture up to 64mp photo and two 13mp photos and a single 5mp photos if all three cameras are used at once. This chipset also supports FHD video at 60Hz refresh rate.
In terms of display, the chipset can support displays up to FHD+ (1080 x 2520)@90Hz refresh rate as well as HD+(900×1600) resolutions also at 90Hz refresh rate.
As mentioned, the chipset supports QC3+ as well as Bluetooth 5.1
MANUFACTURER SUPPORT:
According to Qualcomm, a few known manufacturers should be using this chipset in the next few months. One of these is Nokia which they’ve confirmed would be using the upgraded SD480+ 5G chipset which should come off as a no surprise since they regularly use the SD480 5G for their budget 5G phones.
As mentioned earlier, Xiaomi would be releasing phones powered by the SD778G+ and the SD695 with no dates announced. Honor and Motorola are also interested in using these new processors although did not state which and when they will use them.
Oppo has also confirmed to be releasing a device running on the SD695 in the upcoming months while Vivo would be releasing a phone with the SD680 on-board soon.
Sources: Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+, Qualcomm Snapdragon 480+, Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G, Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G
You can also read the Product Briefing which are listed below:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 480+
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G
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