Qualcomm introduces Snapdragon 415, 425, 618 and 620 chipsets

Qualcomm, the leading manufacturer of mobile chips, just introduced four new SoCs - the Snapdragon 415, Snapdragon 425, Snapdragon 618, and Snapdragon 620. While they are all mid-range chipsets, Qualcomm has implemented some features on this lineup, which are usually found on the company's higher-tire processors.

Snapdragon 415 & Snapdragon 425

Both the Snapdragon 415 and Snapdragon 425 are octa-core chipsets, comprises eight Cortex-A53 cores, based on a 28nm manufacturing process. This makes these new chips the first in the Snapdragon 400 lineup to break the quad-core barrier. The chipsets are based on the ARMv8 architecture, which means they are 64-bit. Both chips come with  FLAC support for high quality audio.


The Snapdragon 415 comes with single image signal processing (ISP) and supports camera sensors as large as 13MP. The chipset features an Adreno 405 GPU with support for 720p HD displays. The Snapdragon 415 comes with X5 LTE modem (up to 150Mbps download speed/50Mbps upload speed)

The Snapdragon 425 comes with a dual image signal processor (ISPs), which will offer better camera performance. Its Adreno 405 GPU, supports display output of up to 1200 x 1920 pixels, and allows hardware decoding of 1080p videos, and boasts support for DirectX 11.2 (provided that the powered handset is running Windows for phones). The Snapdragon 425 has an X8 LTE modem (beefier at 300Mbps maximum download speed; 100Mbps upload).

Snapdragon 618 and Snapdragon 620

The two new members of the Snapdragon 600 lineup are based on the new Cortex-A72 cores. According to ARM, the Cortex-A72 processor delivers roughly twice the performance typical for the Cortex-A57 processors.

The Snapdragon 618 is a 64-bit hexa-core chipset, which is made up of four Cortex-A53 cores and two Cortex-A72 built in the big.LITTLE architecture. Qualcomm claims that the chip features the next generation in Adreno graphics, but has not specified the exact model. It is likely that we will see a member of the upcoming Adreno 500 family coupled with this chip. The Snapdragon 618 will also feature 4K video recording, hardware decoding and will be capable of powering displays with up to 1600 x 2560 pixel resolutions.

The Snapdragon 620 is an octa-core chipset, with four Cortex-A72 and four Cortex-A53 processors, working under the big.LITTLE architecture. The rest of the specs are similar to the Snapdragon 618, and include next generation Adreno graphics, 4K recording and playback, and up to 2K display support.

Both chipsets come with 8 LTE modems, which means that you can enjoy download speeds of up to 300Mbps and upload speeds of up to 100Mpbs. Both chips will support camera sensors as large as 21MP.

Qualcomm's new lineup of chips will become available sometime in the second half of this year. With their release, we can expect a new lineup of mid-range handsets to arrive in the market.

Check out the following spec comparison of the four new chipsets from Qualcomm

Chipset	CPU	GPU	Memory	DSP
Snapdragon 415	Octa Cortex-A53 cores (<1.4GHz)	Adreno 405	LPDDR3@667MHz eMMC 4.5 SD 3.0 (UHS-I)	Hexagon™ V50 DSP
Snapdragon 425	8 x Cortex-A53 cores (<1.7GHz)	Adreno 405	LPDDR3@933MHz eMMC 5.1 SD 3.0 (UHS-I)	Hexagon™ V50 DSP
Snapdragon 618	2x Cortex-A72 (<1.8GHz) + 4 x Cortex-A53 (<1.2GHz)	"Next-gen" Adreno	Dual channel LPDDR3 (933MHz)	Hexagon™ V56 DSP
Snapdragon 620	4 x Cortex-A72 (<1.8GHz) + 4 x Cortex-A53 (<1.2GHz)	"Next-gen" Adreno	Dual channel LPDDR3 (933MHz)	Hexagon™ V56 DSP

Next we look at LTE connectivity capabilities of the new chips. Based on the specifications, it looks like all the new chips offer nearly identical specs in this department (other than the Snapdragon 415)

Chipset	Modem	LTE Category	Theoretical data transfer speeds	Dual LTE SIM support	VoLTE
Snapdragon 415	Qualcomm X5 LTE	Cat.4	150Mbps download; 50Mbps upload	✓	×
Snapdragon 425	Qualcomm X8 LTE	Cat.7	300Mbps download; 100Mbps upload	✓	✓
Snapdragon 618	Qualcomm X8 LTE	Cat.7	300Mbps download; 100Mbps upload	✓	✓
Snapdragon 620	Qualcomm X8 LTE	Cat.7	300Mbps download; 100Mbps upload	✓	✓

Next we move on o the rest of the connectivity features offered by the new chips. Here we see the Snapdragon 400 members sharing the same features. While the Snapdragon 600 members share features with each other.

Chipset	Wi-Fi		Bluetooth	GPS
Snapdragon 415	802.11ac (2.4/5.0GHz) Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO)		BT4.1 + BLE	IZat™ Gen8C Lite
Snapdragon 425	802.11ac (2.4/5.0GHz) Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO)		BT4.1 + BLE	IZat™ Gen8C Lite
Snapdragon 618	Qualcomm® VIVE™ 1-stream 802.11ac		Bluetooth Smart v4.1	IZat™ Gen8C
Snapdragon 620	Qualcomm® VIVE™ 1-stream 802.11ac		Bluetooth Smart v4.2	IZat™ Gen8C

Finally we take a look at video/display capabilities of the new chipsets. The Snapdragon 620 is clearly the top dog of the bunch, with its ability to record 4K video at 30 frames per second as well as 1080p one at no more than 120fps. It also supports two image signal processors (both of which can be up to 21MP in size). The show-stopping feature is its ZSL support - ZSL, if you don't know, stands for "zero shutter lag" and allows you to take a picture as soon as you tap the shutter button.

Chipset	Video		Camera	Display
Snapdragon 415	1080p@30fps playback (w/ HEVC); FullHD H.264 capture		Single ISP; up to 13MP	Up to 720p
Snapdragon 425	1080p@30fps playback (w/ HEVC); Full HD H.264 capture		Dual ISPs; up to 21MP	Up to 1080p
Snapdragon 618	4K@30fps / 1080p@120fps capture; H.265 encoding/decoding		Dual ISPs; up to 21MP (930MP/s output)	Up to Quad HD
Snapdragon 620	4K@30fps / 1080p@120fps capture; H.265 encoding/decoding		Dual ISPs; up to 21MP (930MP/s output); ZSL@24fps	Up to Quad HD

source - Qualcomm ( 415 | 425 | 618 | 620 )