Qualcomm unveils new mid-range SoCs with improved gaming, camera and AI performance

Qualcomm recently announced new Snapdragon 730 and 730G chipsets to power higher-end mid-tier handsets and a Snapdragon 665 SoC that seems poised to replace the entry-level midrange 660 chipset.

Snapdragon 730

This chipset is based on an 8nm manufacturing processor, engineered to offer more power and efficiency. The Snapdragon 730 seems like the more concrete replacement to Qualcomm’s 710 chipset which powers handsets closer to the Rs 30,000 price range. The 730 chipset offers a 35-percent performance bump from the Snapdragon 710 as opposed to the minor improvements in the recently released Snapdragon 712 SoC.

The 730 SoC features 8X Kyro 470 CPUs and a Snapdragon X15 LTE Modem capable of offering data speeds of up to 800 Mbps in theory. The chipset is also equipped with a Spectra 350 “computer vision” image signal processor. Qualcomm’s primary aim for the new Snapdragon 730 SoC seems to be bringing AI-powered processing and imagery to near-flagship handsets.

This new chip also supports Adreno 618 GPU and includes Qualcomm's aptX Adaptive audio and Aqstic audio technologies.

Snapdragon 730G

Qualcomm claims that its new 730G chipset is engineered for gaming. This gaming focused SoC features 15-percent faster graphics rendering over its 730 counterpart. This bump in performance comes courtesy of an overclocked Adreno 618 GPU. A new Jank Reducer feature on the Snapdragon 730G will supposedly reduce jank or stuttering of games by 90-percent. The 730G system-on-chip will also feature a few camera improvements and better Wi-Fi management.

Snapdragon 665

Photography capabilities, optimised gaming, and on-device AI processing, are the key areas of focus on the new Snapdragon 665 SoC. The Snapdragon 665 features 8X Kyro 260 CPUs, an X12 LTE Modem and Qualcomm’s 3rd Gen AI Engine.  The Snapdragon 665 SoC is built on 11nm architecture and packs several improvements in camera performance over the 660 chip.