Qualcomm has announced three new SOCs that will mainly power Budget & Lower-mid-range devices in the near future. This includes the Snapdragon 632, the Snapdragon 439 & the Snapdragon 429. All of these SOCs have received major upgrades over their predecessors & they’ve also borrowed some really nice features from the upper range of SOCs. So, let’s break down the specs.
| Snapdragon 632 | Snapdragon 439 | Snapdragon 429 | |
| Process Technology | 14nm | 12nm | 12nm |
| CPU Cores | 8 x Kryo 250 | 8 x Cortex A53 | 4 x Cortex A53 |
| Max Clock Speed | 1.8 GHz | 1.95 GHz | 1.95 GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 506 | Adreno 505 | Adreno 504 |
| DSP | Hexagon 546 | Hexagon 536 | Hexagon 536 |
| ISP | Dual ISP (14 bit, Unknown Variant) | Dual ISP (Unknown Variant) | Dual ISP (Unknown Variant) |
| Memory | LPDDR3 | LPDDR3 | LPDDR3 |
| Modem | Snapdragon X9 LTE Modem (Down: 300 Mbps, Cat 7 and Up: 150 Mbps, Cat 13) | Snapdragon X6 LTE Modem (Down: 150 Mbps, Cat 4 and Up: 75 Mbps, Cat 5) | Snapdragon X6 LTE Modem (Down: 150 Mbps, Cat 4 and Up: 75 Mbps, Cat 5) |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth | v5.0 | v5.0 | v5.0 |
| Display | FHD+ (upto 1920×1200) | FHD+ (upto 1920×1200) | HD+ (upto 1440×720) |
| Camera | Upto 24MP Single or 13MP Dual Cameras | Upto 21MP Single or 8MP Dual Cameras | Upto 16MP Single or 8MP Dual Cameras |
| Video | Upto 4K 30 fps & 1080P 120 fps | Upto 1080P 30 fps | Upto 1080P 30 fps |
| Quick Charge | Qualcomm QC 3.0 | Qualcomm QC 3.0 | Qualcomm QC 3.0 |
So, the Snapdragon 439 & 429 are now based on the 12nm Process Technology which makes them the first Snapdragon SOCs that are built on this Fabrication Process. However, the Snapdragon 632 is still based on the 14nm Process Technology. However, don’t get the idea that the Snapdragon 439 & 429 are better than the 632. That’s just not the case.
The Snapdragon 632 runs on newer & more powerful Kryo 250 CPUs where the 439 & 429 are using regular Cortex A53 CPUs. In performance, the SD632 should be slightly more powerful compared to the SD630 and SD439 & SD429 should be slightly more powerful compared to the SD435 & SD425 respectively. The Snapdragon 632 also supports 4K Video Recording at 30 fps while the Snapdragon 439 & Snapdragon 429 can only shoot 1080P at 30 fps. The DSP, the ISP, the Modem & Camera (sensor resolution) support are also better in the Snapdragon 632.
Source: learnhacking.net
But, there are some similarities which are bringing significant upgrades in budget smartphones. All these new CPUs support 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, Dual 4G with Dual VoLTE, Qualcomm aptX Wireless Audio codec & Quick Charge 3.0. Now, how many of these mordern features will a specific OEM enable in their smartphone, that might be a question but, at least this opens the way for these modern features into low-budget smartphones that’ll be powered by the Snapdragon 429 & 439. The Snapdragon 630 already had most of these features so, it’s not a huge deal for the 632. Oh, and these CPUs are also supposed to be basic AI capable so, maybe we’ll see AI scene detection in budget devices as well.
The Snapdragon 632, 439 & 429 will start showing up in smartphones starting from the Second Half of this year & initially we may be seeing some Chinese brands such as Xiaomi & others using this SOC.
Anyway, will these SOCs change the overall definition of the budget smartphones ? Probably not but, at least they are giving the segment a little bit push so, maybe budget smartphones will end up being a little bit less boring.
