Qualcomm is renaming Snapdragon 620 and 618 to Snapdragon 652 and 650


Qualcomm Snapdragon

Qualcomm has announced that it is renaming Snapdragon 620 and 618 to the Snapdragon 652 and 650, respectively. Both these were introduced earlier this year and have LTE support, including Global Mode RF360 support. Reason for the change in name is to better reflect the positioning and capabilities of these two processors since the Snapdragon 620 and 618 have significant user experience and performance advantages compared to other 600 tier processors 615, 616 and 617.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 and 652

Highlights of Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 (620) and 650 (618) SoCs

  • Snapdragon 652 (620) : Octa-Core – Quad 1.8GHz ARM Cortex A72 + Quad 1.4GHz A53 CPUs
  • Snapdragon 650 (618): Hexa-Core – Dual 1.8GHz ARM Cortex A72 + Quad 1.4GHz A53 CPUs
  • Integrated X8 LTE, with Global Mode LTE FDD, LTE TDD, WCDMA (DC-HSPA+, DC-HSUPA), CDMA1x, EV-DO, TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE
  • Cat 7 speeds of up to 300 Mbps down/100 Mbps up via 2×20 MHz carrier aggregation in the downlink and uplink on LTE FDD and LTE TDD
  • Support for LTE Broadcast, LTE multimode dual SIM and VoLTE with HD Voice and SRVCC
  • Next generation Qualcomm Adreno 510 GPU
  • Supports up to Quad High Definition (2560×1600) displays
  • Dual ISPs can support up to 21MP ZSL at 24fps and 930MP/sec throughput
  • 4K capture at 30fps, 1080p at 120fps, Hardware HEVC (H.265) encode and decode
  • Miracast support for up to 1080p wireless display
  • High-Fidelity 192kHz/24bit music playback
  • Integrated Qualcomm VIVE 1-stream 802.11ac, Qualcomm IZat location services and Bluetooth 4.1 solutions
  • Quick Charge 3.0

Regarding the name change, Qualcomm, said:

The renaming is to recognize the significant modem, processing, graphics, and camera advantages these two processors bring to the Snapdragon 600 tier. We’ve been developing the Snapdragon 652 and Snapdragon 650 processors over the last 12 months, and the superior capabilities and performance positions them well above other processors in this tier.

For example, the 4K Ultra HD video capture, playback and gaming experiences are unique for this tier, while the hi-resolution camera and 4G LTE experiences push the limits for this category. Although we prioritize user experiences over other measures, benchmark scores also carry weight and they, too, confirm the value in repositioning these two processors to properly reflect a higher position within the Snapdragon 600 tier.

At Qualcomm Technologies, we don’t take changes lightly, but we also recognize it’s important to ensure our processors are well understood by our customers and reflect both the performance and capabilities inherent in their design. With this new naming and positioning, the Snapdragon 600 tier continues to provide excellent mobile experiences and offers superior performance with leading technology and features, with the Snapdragon 652 and 650 leading the pack.


Author: Srivatsan Sridhar

Srivatsan Sridhar is a Mobile Technology Enthusiast who is passionate about Mobile phones and Mobile apps. He uses the phones he reviews as his main phone. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram