Qualcomm Technologies introduced two new mobile platforms, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 and 630, both designed to enhance photography and gaming coupled with long lasting battery and fast LTE speeds. Qualcomm is equipping the 600 series processors with features of their 800 series processors, including the Qualcomm Spectra camera ISP, Qualcomm Kryo CPU, and Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX).
In terms of photography enhancements, the 14-bit Qualcomm Spectra 160 ISP supports cameras that capture up to 24 megapixels single ISP images with zero shutter lag. Spectra is also designed to deliver smooth zoom, lightning-fast autofocus, and true-to-life colors for vivid photos. 4K video capture and playback are integrated, so users can record high-definition videos at 30 frames per second, straight from the device.
The Snapdragon 630 supports up to 13-megapixel + 13-megapixel for dual cameras, while the 660 bumps that up to 16-megapixel + 16-megapixel. The 660 is also equipped with the Qualcomm Hexagon 680 DSP, which incorporates HVX. HVX is designed to support higher camera performance by taking on tasks traditionally handled by the ISP through advanced computer vision and powerful yet efficient image processing.
In terms of raw processing, the Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform is the successor to the Snapdragon 653 and features a 20 percent improvement in the Qualcomm Kryo 260 CPU and 30 percent improvement in the Qualcomm Adreno 512 GPU performance, ensuring a better gaming and multimedia experience for end users. The Snapdragon 630, which succeeds the Snapdragon 625, offers a 30 percent increase in the Adreno 508 GPU performance over its predecessor, as well as a 10 percent increase in CPU performance over its predecessor.
With the bump in processing power, Qualcomm has also introduced Quick Charge 4 technology with the new processors. It now provides 5 hours of talk time in just 5 minutes and up to 50 percent battery life in just 15 minutes of charging.
One of the highlights of these new processors are also the Machine Learning capabilities that Qualcomm has built-in. OEMs and developers can also power immersive and engaging user experiences with machine learning on the Snapdragon 660 and 630 Mobile Platforms using the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine SDK. This heterogeneous software framework offers support for Caffe/Caffe2 and TensorFlow, making it easy to target and run neural networks on the Snapdragon core that matches the power and performance profile of the desired feature – CPU, GPU or DSP/HVX.
The Snapdragon 660 platform is available now while the Snapdragon 630 platform is expected to ship towards the end of this month.
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