The battle for 5G mobile phone popularization has officially begun! Qualcomm's first low-end 5G SoC 8nm Snapdragon 690 is released

Author | Bao Yonggang

Produced by | Leifeng.com Industry Group

In the first quarter of 2020, the number of new 5G phones launched in China was nearly twice the number of new 4G phones, but the popularity of 5G phones still faces the problem of high prices. However, this obstacle will be removed in the second half of this year. Today, Qualcomm has further lowered its 5G technology and released its first 6-series 5G SoC Snapdragon 690. So far, Qualcomm has launched Snapdragon 8, 7, and 6 series 5G SoCs for the high, medium and low-end markets.

Coupled with the launch of mass-market 5G processors by Huawei HiSilicon and MediaTek Dimensity, the battle for 5G mobile phone popularization will officially begin in the second half of this year.

Ma Xiaomin, Product Marketing Director of Qualcomm

For mobile terminals, there is generally such an evolutionary trend that the advanced technologies on high-end and flagship phones will gradually extend to mid- and low-end products. The same is true for Qualcomm's products, so the Snapdragon 690 with an integrated 5G modem was released after the Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 765/765G.

Qualcomm President Amon announces the launch of Snapdragon 690

As the first 5G SoC in the Snapdragon 6 series, the Snapdragon 690 uses an 8nm process. It is not only equipped with the Snapdragon X51 5G modem and RF system optimized for the 6 series, but also supports 120Hz display, up to 192 million pixel photography, and 4K HDR shooting.

The specific features of Snapdragon 690 are as follows:

• Integrated Snapdragon X51 5G modem and RF system, it can support global 5G frequency bands and 4G frequency bands, support NSA/SA, and support global multi-SIM cards;

• The first Snapdragon 6 series mobile platform to support 4K HDR video shooting and up to 192 million pixel photo shooting;

• The first Snapdragon 6 series mobile platform that can support 120Hz display, which can provide a very smooth UI experience;

• Supports the fifth-generation Qualcomm AI Engine and integrates the Hexagon tensor accelerator, which improves the overall AI performance by up to 70% compared to the previous generation;

• It integrates a newly optimized CPU architecture, providing up to 20% CPU performance improvement; at the same time, its graphics rendering processing speed is increased by up to 60%.

Snapdragon X51 is the next-generation X50 series 5G modem following Snapdragon X50, X55 and X52. Regarding this 5G modem specially designed for Snapdragon 690, Qualcomm Product Marketing Director Ma Xiaomin said that Snapdragon X51 has a certain inheritance relationship with Snapdragon X55 and X52, and there will be some technical inheritance, but the main difference is in capability.

It is reported that the maximum downlink rate of the Snapdragon X55 modem is up to 7.5Gbps, the maximum downlink rate of the Snapdragon X52 is 3.7Gbps, and the maximum downlink rate supported by the Snapdragon X51 is 2.5Gbps.

In addition to supporting high-speed 5G, the Snapdragon 690 supports 5G+4G dual-SIM dual standby, which can provide the best support for global roaming and user experience. In addition, the Snapdragon 690 uses Qualcomm FastConnect 6200 subsystem, supports 2×2 Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi 6 Ready.

Regarding the support of 5G+5G dual SIM, Ma Xiaomin believes that Snapdragon 690 supports 5G+4G dual SIM dual standby, which can provide the best support for global roaming and user experience. If 5G VoNR is not well deployed, the quality of the network itself will be relatively poor. 5G+5G only allows consumers to see an additional 5G icon on their phones, but does not bring about substantial changes in user experience.

With high-speed 5G, AI is also indispensable. Snapdragon 690 supports Qualcomm's latest fifth-generation AI Engine, and the integrated tensor accelerator (HTA) makes the AI ​​performance of Snapdragon 690 up to 70% higher than before. This can bring applications that were not possible on previous platforms. For example, when taking selfies, Snapdragon 690 can use the camera to capture hundreds of different feature points on the face, and through real-time calculations by HTA, it can transform the face of the person. The press conference demonstrated the transformation of an adult into a child.

At the press conference, Ma Xiaomin also demonstrated the smooth zoom and super night scene functions achieved by combining high AI performance with Qualcomm Spectra 355L ISP and some third-party excellent algorithms. It can also perform real-time scene detection on voice and other sounds, perform real-time detection on different sounds, and identify the source of the sound.

Leifeng.com learned that the Snapdragon 690 is based on the 8nm process, which means it is manufactured by Samsung. The Snapdragon 690 uses the Kryo 560 CPU, which is based on the Arm Cortex-A77 and A55, and uses an architecture of 2 large cores A77 plus 6 small cores A55; the main frequency of the large core A77 is 2.0GHz, and the main frequency of the small core is 1.7GHz. The GPU is Adreno619L.

As for whether there will be confusion in positioning between the Snapdragon 690, which uses the new generation Cortex-A77, and the higher-end Snapdragon 765G, which uses the Cortex-A76, Ma Xiaomin said in an interview with the media that the release of the Snapdragon 690 today is more aimed at terminal products in the second half of this year, so we have chosen a product positioning that is more acceptable to consumers at this time and at this level.

"There are performance differences between A76 and A77, but the process of Snapdragon 765G is more advanced, and the main frequency of Snapdragon 690 is lower than that of Snapdragon 765G. Therefore, even if Snapdragon 765G does not use the latest generation of IP, it can still meet the product demand on Snapdragon 7 series."

Another highlight of the Snapdragon 690 is its support for shooting 4K HDR videos with more than 1 billion colors (true 10-bit) and 192-megapixel snapshots. It is reported that the Snapdragon 690 has three ISPs, which has made great progress in multi-camera support compared to the previous generation. The first is the addition of an ISP, and the other can support ISP combinations such as three sets of 16MP (16-megapixel cameras). OED/ODM can have a variety of product configurations, including a large main camera and a small secondary camera. The Snapdragon 690 can flexibly support the current mainstream three-camera or even four-camera configurations on the market.

Ma Xiaomin also said, "For the support of 4K HDR and Full HD+120Hz screen display, we will adhere to the principle of inheriting the characteristics of high-end products. We will strive to integrate the features that consumers are most interested in and concerned about. I believe these features will become one of the trends that consumers will pursue in the next period of time, and the Snapdragon 690 platform is fully prepared to meet such needs."

It is also understood that the Snapdragon 690 supports UFS2.1 flash memory, and Qualcomm will consider upgrading it after the subsequent UFS2.2 JEDEC standard is fully clarified. At the same time, it also supports dual-channel LPDDR4x.

It is reported that OEM/ODM manufacturers including HMD Global, LG Electronics, Motorola, Sharp, TCL and Wingtech are all planning to launch smartphones equipped with Snapdragon 690. Ma Xiaomin also revealed that mobile phones equipped with Snapdragon 690 are expected to be launched in the second half of this year.

As a mass-market Snapdragon 690, together with Huawei Kirin 820 and MediaTek Dimensity 820 released in March and May this year, will jointly promote the popularization of 5G mobile phones. Of course, this also means that the battle for the popularization of 5G will also begin in the second half of this year. Regarding the current competition in the 5G SoC market, Ma Xiaomin also told Leifeng.com: "From last year to this year, we have seen a very obvious trend of the entire market shifting from 4G to 5G, especially in China. Of course, overseas, including Europe, North America, and some other regions where 5G networks have been deployed, this trend is also very obvious."

He further said: "Qualcomm has its own rhythm in defining products, but it will also consider changes in customer needs, market evolution, and competition from friendly companies, and make appropriate adjustments to product specifications and launch time. We will launch new products in the 8 series, 7 series, and 6 series in a timely manner to cover different levels of the market."

Another point that is not overlooked is that according to GSMA's forecast, the number of 5G connections worldwide will exceed 1 billion in 2023, which is two years faster than the time it took 4G to achieve the same number of connections.

At present, more than 60 OEM manufacturers have launched or announced the launch of 5G terminals. Qualcomm Global Vice President Hou Mingjuan announced at the press conference that there are currently more than 375 terminals based on Snapdragon 5G solutions that have been launched or are being designed.

So, who will be the first to launch the Snapdragon 690? Will there be major changes in the competition landscape of the 5G SoC market in the future?

The pictures in this article are from Qualcomm