After nearly two years, the not-so-popular Snapdragon 675 SoC is getting a successor in the form of Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 Mobile Platform. Yes, Qualcomm just announced the Snapdragon 678 chipset and it will be seen in mid-range smartphones launching next year. The Snapdragon 678 SoC is very identical to Snapdragon 675 SoC, and there are very minimal upgrades. The new SoC also runs 11nm process, has Kryo 460 CPU and Adreno 612 GPU and features the Snapdragon X12 modem. Unlike the mid-range Qualcomm chips launched recently, the Snapdragon 678 lacks 5G support, latest Wi-Fi and Bluetooth tech, and also sits below the Snapdragon 720G chipset that's powering various mid-range phones currently.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 678 Mobile Platform: Features Detailed
The chipset has Kryo 460 CPU cores with a clock speed of up to 2.2 GHz. It is built on 11nm process and has the Adreno 612 GPU underneath. The difference between the Snapdragon 675 and Snapdragon 678 SoCs is the faster clock speed on the latter. Qualcomm also says the Adreno 612 GPU on Snapdragon 678 SoC delivers better performance, however, it did not dive into the details.
While Qualcomm did not make many improvements on the performance side, it did make some upgrades to the photo & video section. The new Qualcomm Spectra 250L ISP on the Snapdragon 678 SoC supports dual cameras up to 16MP, up to 192MP captures, 5X optical zoom, portrait mode and more. Furthermore, the Hexagon 685 DSP helps in capturing brighter photos without draining power.
Rest of the features are similar to Snapdragon 675 SoC. The Snapdragon 678 packs Qualcomm Snapdragon X12 LTE modem that delivers 600 Mbps peak download speeds and 150 Mbps peak upload speeds. As for carrier aggregation, the chipset supports 3x20 MHz downlink carrier aggregation and 2x20 MHz uplink carrier aggregation.
“We are uniquely positioned to support OEMs in delivering the next generation of devices with in-demand features and performance,” said Kedar Kondap, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Snapdragon 678 brings advanced mobile capabilities for daily entertainment at lightning-fast speeds over reliable connections and long-lasting battery life for consumers worldwide,” he further added.
Other connectivity options include Dual SIM Dual VoLTE (DSDV), VoWi-Fi, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, 1x1 MIMO configuration, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, Beidou, Galileo, GLONASS, GPS, QZSS and SBAS. The chipset also supports USB 3.1 and USB Type-C.
The chipset also supports Full HD+ displays with a pixels resolution of 2520x1080. Lastly, the latest mid-range Mobile Platform from Qualcomm supports QuickCharge 4+ technology. We might see smartphones with Snapdragon 678 SoC launching in early 2021. At the moment, there are no reports of any smartphone using this new mid-range SoC from Qualcomm.
