Qualcomm is pretty much the king in the mobile processor market. The company is often sought after by both, smartphone OEMs and users alike. Pretty much every flagship that any OEM launches packs Qualcomm’s latest and greatest SoC, for now, the 845. The Snapdragon 845 is very well known for power devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, OnePlus’s OnePlus 6, HTC’s U12 Plus and a whole lot of other premium devices.
Recently, Qualcomm has announced three new mid-range SoCs aimed at the mid-range market. Two of the SoCs are making their way into the 400-series of Snapdragon SoCs, while the last one is making its way into the 600-series of Snapdragon SoCs. The devices, as slated by their numbers are going to fill in their gaps respectively. The three SoCs that were released recently are the Snapdragon 429, 439 and 632.
The Product Marketing Manager at Qualcomm, Geoff Gordon said that these SoCs bring significant power enhancements compared to previous-gen SoCs.
“[These new SoCs bring] …significant power enhancements, more efficient designs, artificial intelligence capabilities, an impressive camera, and extraordinary graphics, compared to previous generations.” – Geoff Gordon @ Qualcomm
The most intriguing release among the trio has to be the 632. The Snapdragon 632 bares close resemblance to its elder brother, the 636. The Snadragon 636 has been widely accepted for being among the best SoCs Qualcomm has manufactured for this generation of SoCs. Devices such as Asus’s Zenfone Max Pro M1 and Redmi Note 5 pride themselves for packing the SoC and even going as far to entice mobile gamers.
The Snapdragon 632 sports 8 x Kyro cores clocked at upto 1.8GHz each paired with an Adreno 506 GPU. The SoC supports a single 24MP sensor or a dual 13MP sensors and FHD+ displays.
Regarding the 439 and 429, it seems like their a cheesy choice and I’m looking forward to OEMs choosing the 439 rather than the 429. Not only does the 429 seem to be very pale for 2018 standards, but the devices packing the SoC won’t be a great pickup for most users at all.
Here’s a comparison between the Snapdragon 636, 632, 439 and 429.
| Snapdragon 632 | Snapdragon 636 | Snapdragon 670 | Snapdragon 439 | Snapdragon 429 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clock Speed | 8 x Kyro 250 Upto 1.8Ghz | 8 x Kyro 250 Upto 1.8Ghz | 8x Qualcomm® Kryo™ 360 CPU Upto 2GHz | 12nm 8x ARM Cortex A53 Upto 1.95GHz | 12nm 4x ARM Cortex A53 Upto 1.95GHz |
| GPU | Qualcomm® Adreno™ 506 | Qualcomm® Adreno™ 509 | Qualcomm® Adreno™ 615 GPU | Qualcomm® Adreno™ 505 GPU | Qualcomm® Adreno™ 504 GPU |
| Cellular Modem | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X9 modem | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X12 LTE modem (600/150Mbps) | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X12 LTE modem (600/150Mbps) | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X6 LTE modem | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X6 LTE modem |
| Display | FHD+ | FHD+ | FHD+ *Up to 4K external display support* | FHD+ | HD+ |
| Bluetooth | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Location Tracking | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, SBAS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, SBAS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, SBAS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, SBAS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, SBAS |
| Camera/Video | Up to 4K UltraHD capture @30FPS Up to 1080p video capture @120 FPS Up to 4K Ultra HD playback @30FPS H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), VP9, VP8 | Up to 4K UltraHD capture @ 30 fps Up to 1080p video capture @120 FPS Up to 4K Ultra HD video playback H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), VP9, VP8 | Up to 4K UltraHD capture @ 30 FPS Up to 1080p video capture @ 120 FPS H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), VP9, VP8 | 1080p@30fps capture and playback Hardware HVEC | 1080p@30fps video capture and playback Hardware HVEC |
