Qualcomm has just introduced its newest mid-range processors, the Snapdragon 660 and 630. Both feature improvements in performance, enables advanced photography, enhanced gaming, and are designed to bring flagship grade performance to the mid-range segment of mobile devices.
Key features:
Camera
The Qualcomm Spectra 160 premium camera ISP brings more natural skin tones, superior low light capabilities, as well as improved power efficiency and higher throughput for dual camera devices. It also supports features such as smooth optical zoom, bokeh effects, dual pixel autofocus, and improved video stabilization.
Audio/Visual Processing
The Snapdragon 660 features the Qualcomm Hexagon 680 DSP enables high performance and power efficient image processing, computer vision, and machine intelligence workloads. It also has optimized software libraries which includes support for TensorFlow and Halide.
Both Platforms support Qualcomm All-Ways Aware technology with support for the Google Awareness API, providing the next generation of always-on contextual experiences and uses very low power consumption.
Connectivity
Both the Snapdragon 660 and 630 are equipped with the X12 LTE Modem paired with the new SDR660 RF transceiver, which supports download rates of up to 600Mbps. The Snapdragon 660 in particular, supports 2×2 MU-MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi for 2x more data throughput and up to 60% lower power consumption compared to the Snapdragon 652.
It also offers better coverage in homes and offices with concrete and brick walls, as well as advanced features like LTE/WiFi Antenna Sharing, and Dual Band Simultaneous Operation. Qualcomm Tru Signal adaptive antenna tuning with carrier aggregation for optimal signal quality in various conditions.
The 660 and 630 are the first 600-tier chipsets to feature envelope tracking technology with High Power User Equipment support for better power efficiency and thermal performance. Both also integrate powerful location engines with improved sensitivity and support for new constellations (Galileo and QZSS) for faster location fix, enhanced support for mandatory emergency service requirements, and smoother pedestrian navigation with 50% to 70% lower power consumption.
Both processors feature Bluetooth 5.0, which doubles the amount of data that can be transferred when compared to the previous version.
Improved CPU and GPU
Being the successor of the Snapdragon 653, the Snapdragon 660 offers a 20% more performance from the Kryo 260 CPU, and 30% more from the Adreno 512 GPU for a better gaming and multimedia experience.
The Snapdrgon 630 on the other hand, is the successor of the Snapdragon 625, brings a 30% performance increase in GPU performance and a 10% increase in CPU performance. Both processors offer improved battery life.
Qualcomm Quick Charge 4
The Snapdragon 660 and 630 both support the latest Quick Charge technology, with up to 5 hours of talk time from 5 mins of charging, and 50% battery life from only 15 minutes of charging.
Security
Both processors support Qualcomm Mobile Security, which offers hardware-based protection, user authentication, and device attestation for mobile devices.
Machine Learning
Using the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK, OEMs and developers can now provide immersive user experiences with machine learning on the Snapdragon 660 and 630 processors.
This heterogeneous framework offers support for Caffe/Caffe2 and TensorFlow, making it easier to target and run neural networks that caters to the power and performance of the specific feature (CPU, GPU, or DSP/HSX).
Both the Snapdragon 660 and 630 share the same 14nm FINFET process with 4K video playback and capture capabilities, along with support for 8GB of RAM and Vulkan API. The 660 supports up to QHD (2K) display resolution, while the 430 supports up to Full HD/QXGA (1080p) resolution.
To date, more than 1000 designs have been launched or are already in the pipeline for the Snapdragon 600 tier processors. The 660 is now shipping with the 630 to follow towards the end of this month.
For the full spec sheet and blog post, you may visit the following links: (1, 2, 3)
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
