Qualcomm unveils the Snapdragon 450, its first 400-series SoC built on a 14nm process

[midian182]

It’s usually Qualcomm’s high-end chipsets like the Snapdragon 835 that get all the attention, but the company continues to make huge strides when it comes to mid-range SoCs. At Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, the firm announced a big upgrade to its 400-series platform that sees the move to a 14nm process with the new Snapdragon 450.

The new SoC is said to be optimized for mid-range smartphones and offers several improvements over the current generation of Snapdragon 400 chips, which use a 28nm process. The 450 features the same eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores found in the Snapdragon 435, though the maximum clock speed has been increased from 1.4GHz to 1.8GHz.

The 450 also features an Adreno 506 GPU that Qualcomm says offers a 25 percent improvement when it comes to GPU performance compared to the Snapdragon 435, which uses the Adreno 505 GPU. There’s also battery and efficiency upgrades, with the 450 able to last four hours longer than its predecessor while offering a 30 percent reduction in power consumption.

When it comes to the camera, the Snapdragon can support a single snapper up to 21MP, just like the 435, but it’s also able to support a dual 13MP camera setup and Bokeh effects, which lets users blur the background of a photo in real time. It also enables video capture at up to 1080p/60fps, beating the 435’s 1080p/30fps limit, boosts the USB controller from USB 2.0 to 3.0, and supports display resolutions up to 1920x1200.

The Snapdragon 450 keeps some of its predecessor’s features, including QuickCharge 3.0 support, the "X9 LTE" Cat. 7 modem, and an enhanced version of the Hexagon DSP, which enables multimedia, camera and sensor processing at greater performance and lower power.

With the Snapdragon 450, it seems Qualcomm is closing the feature gap between mid-range and high-end devices. It's expected to begin commercial sampling to customers in Q3 2017 and should be available in consumer devices by the end of 2017.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/69902-qualcomm-unveils-snapdragon-450-first-400-series-soc.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

This chipset could've been considered top end about two generations ago. High end devices really make very little sense these days, they only exist for the purchasers vanity and for the manufacturers to showcase their product and extort the consumer at the same time as far as I'm concerned.

 

[avioza]

they only exist for the purchasers vanity and for the manufacturers to showcase their product and extort the consumer at the same time

I don't know, it sets up the framework for possibility. Yes it might be deceptive marketing to the masses but to create the technology and push processing capabilities even if it is not yet needed is not a bad thing.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I don't know, it sets up the framework for possibility. Yes it might be deceptive marketing to the masses but to create the technology and push processing capabilities even if it is not yet needed is not a bad thing.

Yes, they do display the latest and greatest in tech which appeals to a lot of people and that's why they sell despite their prices. They aren't a necessity at all to any end user but they are a necessity to the industry as a whole. Remember, the tech world is driven purely by profit. No profit, no great new tech.
Despite my huffing & puffing there, I am a high end phone user but that's simply because I get all my computer and high tech goodies directly from the importers without their markup. Connections & favours naturally.
Over here the price difference between high end and midrange phones is not very big at import level but if you buy them from a reseller, the difference is between them is in line with the rest of the world.

 

[p51d007]

I purchased a Huawei Mate2 in the summer of 2014 on Amazon, pretty much as a joke. SD400 chip, 720p screen, but a 4,000mAH battery. I was waiting for the "invite" for the OnePlus One. The phone came about a week before the OPO. Figured on sending it back once the OnePlus came.
Boy, was I surprised how good it was. I'm not a gamer, but, I do use my phone A LOT for work. Phone, web, MP3's, photos and what not. Great battery life, no lag (nova launcher). I was so impressed, that when the OnePlus came, once the bugs were fixed with the software, and I got rid of the bottom 1/2 of the screen yellow "stain" problem, I sold it, and kept the Mate2. Ran it until November of '16, and bought the Mate8.
These new batch of 4xx chips, for MOST users, not into games, are perfect without breaking the bank.