US-based chipmaker Qualcomm Company has unveiled its next 5G chipset, the Snapdragon 690, making it the first product in its 6-series chips. This product is designed to support the next-generation networking standard. The product will offer 20% enhanced CPU performance and 60% faster graphics rendering as compared to the Snapdragon 675. The 690 chips, which will be embedded into the smartphones sell for as little as $300, as a lower price for the chips means higher volumes for Qualcomm Company.
The Snapdragon 690 processor will house the Qualcomm Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF system, which would bring multi-gigabit speeds and enhanced 5G coverage. The chipset is the first in the 600 series that will offer 5th generation Qualcomm Al Engine and Qualcomm Hexagon Tensor Accelerator to upgrade the applications and their use in the devices.
Intro of New Snapdragon 690 Processor
The Snapdragon 690, however, will only support the slower sub-6GHz versions of 5G, and not the faster mmWave standard. The new Snapdragon 690 also promises to add a variety of improvements over the earlier 6-series chips.
Snapdragon 690Snapdragon 690
The addition of 5G support, with the help of the new Snapdragon X51 modem, is specifically crucial for the broader adoption of 5G, given that the company’s 6-series chips work only in midrange and budget phones like the devices from HMD’s Nokia, Motorola, and LG. Previously, 5G connectivity was limited to Qualcomm’s top-tier 8-series chips like the flagship Snapdragon 865 and the semi-premium Snapdragon 765 768G.
New Snapdragon 690 Processor
Phone makers should, by now, start using the Snapdragon 690, as its an exciting development to go by and would help the technology reach out to more customers than only those buyers who are purchasing the most expensive phones. In addition to 5G connectivity, there are a few other high-end features of the 6-series for the first time. The Snapdragon 690 will support 120Hz displays for faster refresh rates, along with 4K HDR video capture. It will also enable up to 192-megapixel cameras on midtier devices. Users can expect to see the first 5G phones powered by a Snapdragon 690 in Q2 2020, with HMD, LG, Motorola, Sharp, and TCL among the companies planning to launch devices with the new chipset.
The Snapdragon 690 is aimed at helping to make 5G accessible to more people than ever before. It is smarter, faster, and more impressive than its predecessor, remarkable on-device AI, and promises to deliver vibrant entertainment experiences that are backed by efficient performance to users.
Multimedia also gets a boost in the new Snapdragon 690 as the chipset can effectively record in HDR 10 format with support for refresh rates up to 120Hz. “Driving the expansion of 5G into the Snapdragon 6-series has the potential to make 5G accessible to more than 2 billion smartphone users around the world.”, Cristiano Amon, President, Qualcomm Incorporated stated. The Snapdragon 690 will be compatible with up to 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and offer support of the India-made NavIC satellite navigation system.
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