It appears that the smartphone manufacturing industry is now beginning to give attention to the performance of entry-level smartphones. Last year, Google released Android Go which improves the performance of entry-level devices and now American chip maker, Qualcomm has released three new AI assisted processors which target entry-level and mid-range smartphones. According to the company, the Snapdragon 632, Snapdragon 439, and Snapdragon 429 chipsets boost CPU performance, improves GPU processing and expands power efficiency.
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| Model | Snapdragon 632 | Snapdragon 439 | Snapdragon 429 |
| Process | 14 nm (FinFET) | 12 nm (FinFET) | 12 nm (FinFET) |
| CPU | 8x Kryo 250 (1.8 GHz) | 8x Cortex-A53 (1.95 GHz) | 4x Cortex-A53 (1.95 GHz) |
| GPU | Adreno 506 | Adreno 505 | Adreno 504 |
| Camera | Up to 24MP / 13MP + 13 MP | Up to 21MP / 8MP + 8MP | Up to 16MP / 8MP + 8MP |
| Video | 4K @ 30fps / 1080p @ 60fps | 1080p @ 30fps | 1080p @ 30fps |
| Max screen res | Full HD+ | Full HD+ | HD+ |
| LTE | 300Mbps / 100Mbps | 150Mbps / 75Mbps | 150Mbps / 75Mbps |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ac (364Mbps) | 802.11ac (364Mbps) | 802.11ac (364Mbps) |
| QuickCharge | N/A | 3.0 | 3.0 |
According to a Qualcomm’s Product Manager and VP, Kedar Kondap, over 3500 devices run on Snapdragon 600 and 400 series and these new Snapdragon chips with significant improvements will give OEMs more option. The SD632 is built on the 14 nm FinFET process while SD439 and SD429 use a 12nm process. According to Qualcomm, the commercialization of these Snapdragon chips will begin in a few weeks thus we expect to see new smartphones rocking these SoCs from the second half of this year. If the performance of these processors is truly significantly improved, then, smartphones powered by these Snapdragon chips should flood the market by the end of this year.