Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G SoC launched, makes 5G more accessible

The US chip manufacturer has launched its new 6-Series 5G SoC in the form of Snapdragon 690. Qualcomm expects the new platform will make 5G user experiences even more broadly available around the world. Qualcomm previously launched the 7-series 5G SoC back in 2019 in the form of Snapdragon 765 & 765G and the newer Snapdragon 768G in 2020 for mid-range smartphones.

Previously, we had some leaks months back about a new 6-series 5G SoC from Qualcomm and now it’s officially announced. The Snapdragon 690 is the direct successor to the Snapdragon 675, a long wait indeed to see its next successor. Still, with this new budget 5G SoC we will be able to see newer smartphones under Rs.20k price bracket in India with 5G support.

Talking more about the specs of the Snapdragon 690, it features a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Kryo 560 CPU with clock speeds up to 2.0 GHz. Also, the leaks were true, it consists of two main Cortex-A77 cores, seen on the flagship Snapdragon 865, running up to 2.0 GHz along with six Cortex-A55 companion cores running at up to 1.7 GHz.

It’s quite interesting to see the budget Snapdragon 690 SoC to be the 2nd chipset in Qualcomm’s portfolio to feature a 500-series Kryo cores, while the first being the flagship Snapdragon 865 with Kryo 585. Qualcomm claims that the new SoC will deliver up to 20% performance improvement compared to its predecessor and it supports up to 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR4x RAM.

On the GPU front, we have the Adreno 619L GPU, previously spotted on SoCs like Snapdragon 720G and 730G chipsets. Qualcomm claims that the GPU will provide up to 60% faster graphics performance than its predecessor.

Also, the Snapdragon 690 brings many of new premium features to the 6 series for the first time, including 4K HDR (true 10-bit) video capture support to capture over a billion shades of colour and at up to 192 Megapixels camera support. It also supports 120 Hz Full HD+ displays for fast refresh rates and smooth UI experiences.

For 5G, there’s the Snapdragon X51 5G integrated modem supports up to 2.5 GB/s download along with up to 660 Mbps upload speeds over 5G networks. It supports both the standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) networks, the sub-6GHz bands, TDD, FDD and dynamic Spectrum sharing.

The Snapdragon 690 features the latest 5th generation Qualcomm AI Engine, enabling the smart camera and video, voice translation, advanced AI-based imaging, and AI-enhanced gaming experiences. The chipset also supports India’s satellite navigation system NavIC. Apart from 5G, the chip features Qualcomm’s FastConnect 6200 system that brings Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, and 2×2 MU-MIMO connectivity options.

Although 5G is still further away from being officially implemented in India, still these new 5G SoCs making more 5G compatible smartphones will force telecom industries to pave way for 5G sooner. HMD Global aka Nokia, LG Electronics, Motorola, SHARP, TCL and Wingtech are among the first OEMs/ODMs to be using the Snapdragon 690 SoC in their smartphones.

Sources: Qualcomm

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