Qualcomm’s 800-series Snapdragon processors are usually the ones that get all of the attention, but the 200, 400, and 600-series chips are just as important for Qualcomm since they power many more affordable devices. To that end, Qualcomm has introduced new processors in each of those three categories.
First up, the new Snapdragon 212 is largely unchanged from the Snapdragon 210, but its quad-core ARM Cortex A7 CPUs can now be clocked up to 1.3GHz from 1.1GHz on the 210. The Snapdragon 212 includes an Adreno 304 GPU, an integrated X5 LTE Global Mode modem, and support for up to 8-megapixel cameras and 1280x720 screen resolutions.
The Snapdragon 412 is similar to the 212 in that it offers a slight upgrade over the 410. While the Snapdragon 410’s quad-core ARM Cortex A53 CPUs could be clocked up to 1.2GHz, the 412 can go up to 1.4GHz. Also included with the 412 is an Adreno 306 GPU, integrated X5 LTE Global Mode modem, and support for cameras up to 13.5 megapixels and screen solutions up to 1920x1200.
Finally, the Snapdragon 616 is an octa-core processor like the Snapdragon 615 before it, but one of the 616’s quad-core clusters is clocked higher than its 615 counterpart. While the 616’s faster quad-core ARM Cortex A53 cluster can still go up to 1.7GHz, the lower power quad-core cluster has been bumped from 1.0GHz on the 615 to 1.2GHz on the 616. The Snapdragon 616 also offers an Adreno 405 GPU, integrated X5 LTE Global Mode modem, and support for cameras up to 21 megapixels and displays up to 2560x1600.
Qualcomm says that the Snapdragon 616 is already appearing in devices, with the first one to offer it being the Huawei Maimang 4. The Snapdragon 212 and 412 aren’t in any new products quite yet, but they could begin appearing later this year.
Overall it looks like these new Snapdragon processors are modest updates over their predecessors. Still, they can offer some better performance to entry-level and mid-range phones, helping them to keep up with the apps and games that consumers want to run.