If you geek out over Android like we do over here, then you’ve all probably heard of Qualcomm and its line of processors for flagship phones. For example, the Snapdragon 888 set to power high-end phones in 2021. However, Qualcomm also makes a range of processors to power phones at every level.
Today, the chipset maker announced the brand new Snapdragon 678, a follow-up to the 675 with “upgraded performance, dynamic camera features, and enhanced streaming capabilities.”
“Snapdragon 678 brings advanced mobile capabilities for daily entertainment at lightning-fast speeds over reliable connections and long-lasting battery life for consumers worldwide.”
The Snapdragon 678 offers enhancements over the 675 with the Qualcomm Kryo 460 CPU core with a clock speed of up to 2.2GHz. The graphics processor has also been improved featuring the Qualcomm Adreno 612 GPU for faster rendering of graphics.
This will allow for gamers to experience high framerates with fewer frame drops, and the 678 has been optimized for many popular game engines, including Unity, Messiah, NeoX, and Unreal Engine 4.
Along with the increased horsepower, improvements to photography and videography have also been made. The Snapdragon 678 will be able to capture photos with triple-camera setups at up to 48MP with zero shutter lag. The third-gen Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence Engine will help with low-light photography, laser autofocus, and with taking portrait mode photos with bokeh.
Lastly, the Snapdragon X12 LTE modem included on the 678 supports carrier aggregation with download speeds up to 600Mbps and uploads of up to 150Mbps. Plus, it has been “engineered to provide users fast connections, even in congested areas, so they can stream videos, download music, and enjoy accurate navigation and location in real-time.”
What this all means for you is better performance in midrange phones for 2020. Last year, we saw several popular brands use the Snapdragon 675 such as Vivo, Xiaomi, and Samsung. In 2021, we can expect to see Samsung’s more affordable A-series of phones adopt the 678 to offer good performance on a budget.