Andrew Bonwick
Vice President of Product Development at Relm Insurance
Madhav Sheth
CEO of Ai+ Smartphone
Stephen Rose
CEO Render Networks


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.