Qualcomm announced two new processors in its Snapdragon line-up called Snapdragon 617 and Snapdragon 430. The two new chipsets are designed to deliver high-end performance in mid-range devices. The devices sporting Snapdragon 617 SoC are expected to arrive by the end of 2015 and those powered by Snapdragon 430 will arrive in Q2 of 2016.
“As smartphones and tablets continue to spread to all corners of the globe, we recognize that users are becoming more discerning in what they want,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “The introduction of these new processors is a clear indication that we are listening to the needs of our customers who want ever improving cameras, faster connectivity, and better battery life across all available price points.
Let’s talk about the two new chipsets in detail-
Snapdragon 617
Snapdragon 617 will be the first to arrive and will boast an octa-core configuration of eight Cortex-A53 cores clocked at a maximum of 1.5GHz. It comes with Adreno 405 GPU that is seen in earlier processors. The new chipset is integrated with X8 LTE capabilities that support Cat 7 download speeds of upto 300 Mbps, 100 Mbps of downloading and 2x20MHz Carrier Aggregation.
The Snapdragon 617 is only limited to FHD resolution and supports dual-ISPs that allow you to take stunning photographs and image quality reaching upto 21MP.
Snapdragon 430
The Snapdragon is expected to arrive in the first half of 2016 and will be an upgraded chipset when compared to the other Snapdragon 400 series chipsets. It will come with Adreno 505 GPU that is developed to deliver increased speed and efficiency. The Snapdragon 430 will be the first in its series to equip the latest Adreno 505 GPU.
The processor also integrates X6-LTE with Cat 4 support for a download speed of upto 150 Mbps and upload speed of upto 75 Mbps. Like the Snapdragon 617, it also supports dual ISP’s that supports photo capture upto 21MP and it also brings support for 1080p resolution display.
These two processors also share some great features. Both the Snapdragon 617 and Snapdragon 430 supports the latest Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology. This new technology can offer upto four times faster charging than standard chargers and can charge a phone from 0 to 80% in about 35 mins. This new technology will also be used in Snapdragon 820, 620 and 618 SoC.
