Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, 630 Offer High-End Features

Updated on

Qualcomm has unveiled its Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms to make processors in line with advanced technologies such as true life photography and increased level of security. In a blog post on Tuesday, the company stated that the mobile platforms are designed to get more performance from processors.

Qualcomm focuses on mid-tier market

Qualcomm has been consistently working towards more enhanced LTE modems, adding some desirable capabilities in the 600 and even 400 tiers. However, after the release of its first gigabit LTE modem Snapdragon X16 1.0Gbps DL / 150Mbps UL), the Snapdragon 835 SoC, the chip maker is looking to bring even higher performance to its 600-series platforms, notes AnandTech.

Qualcomm’s vice president of product management, Kedar Kondap, stated that they are delighted to come up with the Snapdragon 660 and 630 mobile platforms to ensure enhanced quality of image and LTE speeds in a range of devices without having to worry about the performance or quality.

The U.S. chip maker stated that the features, which were originally included in the 800 processor tier, such as the Spectra camera ISP, Kryo CPU and Hexagon Vector Extensions (HVX), are now available to vendors in the mid-tier market that depend on the Snapdragon 660 and 630 chips.

The new Snapdragon 660 and 630 are based on the same Snapdragon X12 LTE modem which was also in the Snapdragon 820/821 SoCs launched last year. It is a Category 12/13 modem capable of 600 Mbps throughput on the downlink (3x20MHz CA, 256-QAM) and 150Mbps on the uplink (2x20MHz CA, 64-QAM), notes AnandTech.

According to BGR, seven categories of features were focused on while designing the mobile platforms: connectivity, camera, audio and visual processing, better CPU and GPU performance, quick charging, machine learning and security. According to the company, in each of these areas, the Qualcomm 660 and 630 performs better than their predecessors.

How much better are the Snapdragon 660 and 630 than their predecessors?

The Snapdragon 660 beats the 653 with a 20% improvement in CPU performance and 30% improvement in GPU performance. The 660 and 653 offer quality for those who like to play games on their mobile devices. The Snapdragon 630, which will replace the Snapdragon 626, is 10% stronger on the CPU side and 30% better on GPU, notes BGR.

Battery life is expected to improve with the Snapdragon 660 and 630 through Quick Charge 4 technology. Mobile devices will get 5 hours of talk time in just 5 minutes of charging and up to a 50% battery charge in just 15 minutes.

Both of the new platforms align with Qualcomm Mobile Security for security-focused hardware-based protection, device attestation on mobile devices and user authentication.

“This heterogeneous software framework offers support for Caffe/Caffe2 and TensorFlow, making it easy to target and run neural networks on the Snapdragon core that matches the power and performance profile of the desired feature – CPU, GPU or DSP/HVX,” the chip maker said.

Qualcomm wants developers and OEMs to utilize machine learning to improve user experience with the help of the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK. The chip maker has already started shipping the Snapdragon 660, whereas the 630 will start shipping towards the end of this month.

Leave a Comment