Qualcomm’s mid-range 6 and 7 series are getting new increments to their separate line-ups. At the 2019 Qualcomm AI Day, the company reported the new Snapdragon 665 and Snapdragon 730 mobile platforms.
The Snapdragon 665 can be viewed as the successor to the extraordinarily popular Snapdragon 660, while the Snapdragon 730 is the successor to the Snapdragon 710. Qualcomm claims the new chips offer significant enhancements in AI computing, imaging, and execution, particularly with respect to gaming. Truth to be told, gaming is one area where Qualcomm is intensely promoting their new chips; the company declared that the Snapdragon 730 will be joined by the Snapdragon 730G—a Snapdragon 730 with an overclocked GPU and few gaming-centric features.
Qualcomm is proceeding with their pattern of bringing features from their top-notch tier 8 series down to their mid-range chipsets. For example, the Snapdragon 730 incorporates many of the AI enhancements presented with the Snapdragon 855, while the somewhat higher-tier Snapdragon 730G presents several of the new Snapdragon Elite Gaming features that we first observed on the Snapdragon 855. In the meantime, the Snapdragon 665 offers up to double the execution in on-device AI processing compared to the Snapdragon 660, and improved power savings thanks to being manufactured on an 11nm FinFET process technology contrasted with 14nm Snapdragon 660. Both Snapdragon 730 chips are produced on using an 8nm FinFET process technology, making them the main 8nm chips from Qualcomm.
The first smartphones with the Snapdragon 665, Snapdragon 730, and Snapdragon 730G are expected to launch in mid-2019, which is decently soon. Here’s the detailed information of each new mobile platform so you’ll know what’s in the store when the first devices with the new chips are going to be announced.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 Specifications and Features
In a no holds barred comparison with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, the new Snapdragon 665 doesn’t appear to offer substantial enhancements. It’s also additionally weaker than the Snapdragon 670 in CPU and GPU execution, which is what you would expect given Qualcomm’s marking show. It’s difficult to see where the Snapdragon 665 fits in given the numerous mid-range chipsets that Qualcomm already offers, however, the Snapdragon 660, regardless of its immense fame among budget Chinese smartphone manufacturers, is an aging chip. The Snapdragon 665 could be the next enormous hit for low-cost, mid-range Android phones, surpassing the Snapdragon 660. The following table summarizes the key contrasts between the Snapdragon 660 and Snapdragon 665.
| Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 (sdm660) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 (sm6125) | |
| CPU | 4 x performance and 4 x efficiency Kryo 260 CPU cores (Up to 2.2GHz) | 4 x performance and 4 x efficiency Kryo 260 CPU cores (Up to 2.0GHz) |
| GPU | Adreno 512
Vulkan 1.0 support |
Adreno 610 Vulkan 1.1 support |
| DSP | Hexagon 680 | Hexagon 686 |
| Memory | Type: LPDDR4/4X
Speed: Up to 1866MHz, 8GB RAM |
Type: LPDDR3/LPDDR4x Speed: Up to 1866MHz, 8GB RAM |
| ISP | Dual 14-bit Spectra 160 ISP
Single camera: Up to 25 MP, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps; Up to 48MP Dual camera: Up to 16 MP, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps 4k @ 30fps video |
Dual 14-bit Spectra 165 ISP
Single camera: Up to 25 MP, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps; Up to 48MP Dual camera: Up to 16 MP, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps 4K @ 30fps video |
| Modem | Snapdragon X12
600Mbps DL (Cat. 12), 150Mbps UL (Cat. 13) |
Snapdragon X12 600Mbps DL (Cat. 12), 150Mbps UL (Cat. 13) |
| Manufacturing Process | 14nm FinFET | 11nm FinFET |
The greatest improvement over the past generation is in AI performance. Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 665 offers “up to 2x quicker AI on-device processing” over the Snapdragon 660 thanks to the 3rd generation Qualcomm AI Engine, improved Adreno 610 GPU, and two Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX.) Although the Snapdragon 665’s Spectra 165 doesn’t appear to offer numerous improvements over the Spectra 160 ISP in the Snapdragon 660, the improved AI on-device processing execution allows for the faster scene and item recognition and upgrades to other Computer Vision use cases like facial acknowledgment.
Qualcomm flaunts that the Snapdragon 665 can support triple rear camera setups including fax, wide-angle, and super-wide angle lens and that the ISP is equipped of handling 48MP snapshots. Honestly, these features are as of now possible with the Snapdragon 660, as observed by the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 in China and the Nokia X71. Qualcomm has banded with Morpho, which is a company having expertise in image processing, to bring support for their Moviesolid video adjustment software. It’s up to every device maker whether they want to permit this technology, however, so this technology isn’t a natural feature of the Snapdragon 665.
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Specifications and Features
The Snapdragon 730 is a place where things get a bit more intriguing. It’s made with an 8nm process contrasted to the 10nm process of the superior tier Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 and Snapdragon 845. Like with the Snapdragon 665, Qualcomm flaunts double the AI performance in the Snapdragon 730 when contrasted to the Snapdragon 710. Qualcomm characteristics this improvement in on-device AI execution to a blend of its 4th generation Qualcomm AI Engine, more ALUs in the Adreno 618 GPU over the Adreno 616, improved execution in dot items instructions with the Kryo 470 CPU, and a tensor accelerator like on the Snapdragon 855. The Snapdragon 730 offers more generational enhancements over the Snapdragon 710 than the Snapdragon 665 does over the Snapdragon 660, however.
The following table summarizes, at a high level, the real contrasts between the Snapdragon 710 and Snapdragon 730.
| Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 (sdm710) | Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 (sm7150-AA) | |
| CPU | 2 x performance and 6 x efficiency Kryo 360 CPU cores (Up to 2.2GHz) | 2 x performance and 6 x efficiency Kryo 470 CPU cores (Up to 2.2GHz) |
| GPU | Adreno 616 | Adreno 618
Vulkan 1.1 |
| DSP | Hexagon 685 | Hexagon 688 |
| Memory | Type: 2 x 16-bit, LPDDR4
Speed: Up to 1866MHz, 8GB RAM |
Type: 2 x 16-bit, LPDDR4
Speed: Up to 1866MHz, 8GB RAM |
| ISP | Dual 14-bit Spectra 250 ISP
Single camera: Up to 25MP, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps; Up to 48MP, MFNR Dual camera: Up to 16MP, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps 4k @ 30 fps video |
Dual 14-bit Spectra 350 ISP
Single camera: Up to 36MP, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps; Up to 48MP, MFNR Dual camera: Up to 22MP, MFNR, ZSL, 30fps 4K HDR @ 30 fps video |
| Modem | Snapdragon X15
800 Mbps DL (Cat. 15), 150 Mbps UL (Cat. 13) |
Snapdragon X15 800 Mbps DL (Cat. 15), 150 Mbps UL (Cat. 13) |
| Manufacturing Process | 10nm FinFET | 8nm FinFET |
The Spectra 350 ISP in the Snapdragon 730 has incorporated AI like the Spectra 380 in the Snapdragon 855. Qualcomm says it’s their first CV-ISP in their 7 series, providing “up to 4x overall power savings” in CV use cases contrasted to the Snapdragon 710. The CV-ISP additionally opens up the possibility for features such as depth detecting at 60fps and 4k HDR video recording with real-time bokeh. The Snapdragon 730’s Spectra 350 can deal with output from a single 36MP camera sensor with ZSL contrasted to the 25MP ZSL of the Snapdragon 710’s Spectra 250. In spite of that, the Snapdragon 730 doesn’t support 48MP snapshots with ZSL, the improved imaging execution should lessen the time allotment it takes to process such an image, which is an issue we saw on the Redmi Note 7 Pro. Dual camera support has additionally been improved, with the Spectra 350 being fit for supporting dual 22MP shooters with MFNR and ZSL.
Qualcomm says the Kryo 470 CPU cores in the Snapdragon 730 offer up to 35% improvement in execution when contrasted to the Kryo 360 CPU cores in the Snapdragon 710. Games that are built with version 1.1 of the Vulkan Graphics API can keep running on devices with the Snapdragon 730 with 20% less power use when contrasted with games using OpenGL ES, as per Qualcomm.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Specifications and Features
In case it isn’t self-evident, the “G” in Snapdragon 730G stands for “Gaming.” Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 730G offers “up to 15% quicker designs rendering” over the standard Snapdragon 730. Therefore, devices with display resolutions up to QHD+ are presently supported, contrasted with Full HD+ support on the Snapdragon 710. Qualcomm has additionally brought a few gaming-related features over from the Snapdragon 855, including “Wi-Fi Latency Manager,” “Jank Reducer,” and “Anti-Cheating Extensions.” According to Qualcomm, “Wi-Fi Latency Manager” enhance your Wi-Fi settings to support online gaming, “Jank Reducer” reduces “janks by up to 90% in games running at 30fps,” while “Anti-Cheating Extensions” some way to another identify when a player is swindling. Like with Huawei’s GPU Turbo, there’s most likely strong technology underlying these features, however, their promoting leaves a bit to be desired.
Other than gaming improvements, the Snapdragon 730G has a couple of imaging-related improvements as well. Qualcomm says the 730G supports Cinemagraphs and 720p super slow motion video recording at 960fps. There’s one major caveat with the 960fps case, however, it just supports 960fps through frame rate change which means that frames are inserted to change over a 720p@240fps video into a 720p@960fps video. We’ve already seen lead smartphones from Xiaomi and Huawei do this, however, now we’ll see mid-range smartphones boast 960fps capabilities by means frame interpolation.