Qualcomm debuts new Snapdragon 660 and 630 chips
By Robin-Leigh Chetty 9 May 2017 | Categories: newsYes, we all secretly hanker for a mobile device that's powered by Qualcomm's latest and greatest Snapdragon chipset (currently the Snapdragon 835), but for a far greater number of consumers, the company's mid-range offerings will be powering their smartphones of choice. To that end, Qualcomm lifted the lid on its latest series of chips - the Snapdragon 660 and 630.
While both sets of CPU have received an overhaul from Qualcomm, the bullet points are improvements to LTE and Bluetooth connectivity. A X12 LTE modem takes care of things are far as broadband goes, with the Snapdragon 660 and 630 capable of matching the Snapdragon 820 in that regard. Bluetooth 5 is now available too, with Quick Charge 4 thrown in for good measure.
Processing power is on the up as well, with Qualcomm reporting the 660 as boasting a 20% increase over its forbear, and the 630 a solid 10% improvement. On the battery life side of things, the 660 also touts 60% less consumption while using Wi-Fi compared to its predecessor.
Lastly, eight seems to be the magic number when it comes to RAM and cores, as both new chipsets can support up to 8 GB of RAM and eight cores.
Qualcomm notes the Snapdragon 660 has begun shipping to manufacturers, with the 630 set to follow next month. Which devices we'll be seeing them is unknown, but perhaps phones set for IFA 2017 in September will be among the first.
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