By Qualcomm has announced a couple of new chipset options for vendors who want to provide powerful entry-level and mid-range smartphones at a more affordable price. Enter the Snapdragon 200 and 400, two chipsets which won’t boast “best overall” performance but should be a popular configuration in a time where OEMs are looking to capture every side of the market possible.
The Snapdragon 400 includes two different CPU options: a dual Krait-based setup with 1.7GHz per core, or a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 setup at up to 1.4GHz per core. Both options include a nice Adreno 305 GPU, Miracast support, up to 13.5MP camera support with 1080p capture and playback, and more.
On the other hand, the Snapdragon 200 will be a quad-core ARM Cortex-A5 configuration at 1.4Ghz per core, will house an Adreno 203 GPU, support for cameras up to 8 megapixels and more. It’s tough to say how these chipsets will perform in real-world scenarios, but if these are headed into devices aimed at emerging markets we imagine they’ll be more than enough.
Qualcomm has more details over at its blog, including information about RAM, dual-SIM capabilities, the modems being paired with these chipsets and more. Get over there and read up if any of that stuff is important to you, and we’ll be keeping our eye out for any devices that might be coming to market with these two pups starting at Mobile World Congress next week.
I can see the 400 being popular in the USA on low cost/free contract phones, or well priced prepaid handsets on carriers like MetroPCS and boost.
That would be nice. I can see manufacturers pair a 400 with a 720p display or a 200 with a qhd display and keep things under $399 at least. Good for the low and mid-range setups of 2013.
in that case wouldnt it make more sense to get a nexus 4?
Of course (assuming you are ok with no battery or sd upgrade), but manufacturers aren’t going to price compete with a google-subsidized device
I actually see the 400 as a high midrange offering. It really is competitive with almost every currently available premium offering. For example, this would likely match the performance of a GS3 at a midrange price. It’ll sell like hotcakes to phone OEMs.
This is some high specs for low-mid end phones :o Can’t wait to see what the 800 has got to offer!
Do the math yourself. 2.3 Ghz vs 1.5 Ghz in S4 Pro. Adreno 330 vs Adreno 320. So about 50% faster in both CPU and GPU.