Qualcomm launches Snapdragon 653, 626, and 427 processors with faster 4G LTE

Qualcomm has unveiled three new processors for its growing mid and entry tier mobile SoC portfolio today, dubbed the Snapdragon 653, 626, and 427. As you may have guessed, these are the successors to the 652, 625, and 425 labelled chips that launched earlier in the year, each boasting a selection of improvements and new features.

For starters, each of processors comes paired up with Qualcomm’s high speed X9 LTE modem that was previously reserved for its top-tier chips. This modem offers Category 7 LTE download speeds of up to 300Mbps, while the upload ranks at Category 13 for peak data transfers at 150Mbps. The X9 also comes with two 20MHz band carrier aggregation support in both the uplink and downlink, to make the most of fast LTE-Advanced networks that have rolled out around the world.

All three of the SoCs also support dual image sensors, at varying resolutions, and come with Quick Charge 3.0 technology built in for faster battery charging, even in less expensive devices. There’s also universal support for the Enhanced Voice Services (EVS) codec for VoLTE calls.

Some slight performance improvements have also been made to the two new 600 series chips. The Snapdragon 653 sees its Cortex-A72 CPU cores boosted from 1.80 to 1.95GHz for a roughly 10 percent boost to performance. The Adreno 510 GPU has seen a small increase in frequency too. This SoC now also support up to 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM, up from 4GB, making it a very compelling option for super-mid tier handsets, so long as you don’t mind the limited GPU.

“It has always been Qualcomm Technologies’ strategy to introduce industry-leading features first at the premium Snapdragon 800 tier design point, and then scale these features into our other Snapdragon products,” – Alex Katouzian, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm

Similarly, the 626 sees a 10 percent performance boost to its low power Cortex-A53 cores, which increase from 2.0 to 2.2GHz. There aren’t any performance enhancement found in the Snapdragon 427, but it does bring Qualcomm’s TruSignal antenna boost technology from the 800 and 600 series to the company’s low cost processor tier. TruSignal is designed to improve signal reception in congested areas.

The mid-range Snapdragon 653 and 626 will be available before the end of the year, while the entry level Snapdragon 427 won’t make an appearance until early 2017.

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Qualcomm Announces Introduction of New Snapdragon 600 and 400-Tier Processors Supporting Enhanced Experiences and Improved Connectivity; Significant Traction in High Performance, High Volume Smartphones

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., introduced three new Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ processors aimed at supporting enhanced user experiences and connectivity for high performance and high volume mobile devices. The new Snapdragon 653, Snapdragon 626 and Snapdragon 427 processors are designed to deliver higher levels of processing performance than their predecessors. All three new processors are designed to support Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 3.0 technology, designed to deliver power up to 4X faster compared to traditional charging methods. In addition, support for dual camera has been extended from the Snapdragon 800 tier to the Snapdragon 600 and 400 tiers, for clear imaging and photos across a wider variety of photo capture scenarios, to further enhance consumer experiences.

Each chipset supports the following modem features:

• X9 LTE, with Cat 7 downlink speeds up to 300Mbps, and Cat 13 uplink speeds up to 150Mbps, designed to provide users with a 50 percent increase in maximum uplink speeds over the X8 LTE modem.
• LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation with up to 2×20 MHz in the downlink and uplink
• Support for 64-QAM in the uplink
• Superior call clarity and higher call reliability with the Enhanced Voice Services (EVS) codec on VoLTE calls.

These advanced modem capabilities can increase network capacity and improve throughputs for all users in the network.

Qualcomm Technologies also announced that, over the past 12 months, there have been more than 400 OEM designs based on our Snapdragon 600-tier chipsets, including more than 300 devices launched and more than 100 device designs currently in the pipeline.

Snapdragon 600 and Snapdragon 400 Features:

• The Snapdragon 653 processor not only features an increase in CPU and GPU performance over the Snapdragon 652, but also doubles the addressable memory (RAM) from 4GB to 8GB supporting greatly enhanced user experiences. The Snapdragon 653 is pin and software compatible with Snapdragon 650 and 652.
• The Snapdragon 626 features a CPU performance increase over the Snapdragon 625. It also features Qualcomm® TruSignal™ antenna boost, designed to improve signal reception in congested areas. The Snapdragon 626 is pin and software compatible with Snapdragon 625, and software compatible with the Snapdragon 425, 427, 430, and 435 processors.
• The Snapdragon 427 delivers a CPU and GPU performance increase over the Snapdragon 425. It is the first chipset to bring TruSignal to the Snapdragon 400 tier of processors, designed to deliver unprecedented powerful antenna tuning to this high volume line of processor solutions. The Snapdragon 427 is pin and software compatible with Snapdragon 425, 430 and 435, and software compatible with Snapdragon 625 and 626.

“It has always been Qualcomm Technologies’ strategy to introduce industry-leading features first at the premium Snapdragon 800 tier design point, and then scale these features into our other Snapdragon products,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “A great example of this strategy is the use of dual camera for capturing high quality photos that now range across our portfolio, including our 400 series mobile solution. Doing this allows our customers and smartphone developers to reach a broad subscriber base with advanced features and great end-user experiences.”

The Snapdragon 653 and 626 chipsets are expected to be commercially available by the end of 2016. The Snapdragon 427 chipset is expected to be in commercial devices in early 2017.

Additional Qualcomm Technologies announcements made today at the 4G/5G Summit include new solutions for connected smart cameras, and, broad ecosystem adoption of its LTE Category M1/NB-1 modem.

About Qualcomm Incorporated
Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm’s licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm’s engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QCT. For more than 30 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website,OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

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