Qualcomm’s New Chip – Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor is for next-gen wearables
The world’s biggest mobile chipmaker, Qualcomm, has not only announced three new mobile SoC, the Snapdragon 625, 435, 425, targeting the mid-range and entry-level smartphones, But it’s also unveiled a new chipset for wearables – Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor.
Nearly all Android Wear devices shipped over the last two years have been powered by the Snapdragon 400 processor. The new Snapdragon Wear 2100 will replace the Snapdragon 400 processor.
The new Snapdragon Wear 2100 is also 30% smaller than the Snapdragon 400. The Snapdragon Wear 2100 also boasts 25% better power efficiency than the Snapdragon 400.
As well as supporting low-power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, the Snapdragon Wear 2100 also comes in a 3G and 4G LTE variants. With Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and LTE, Qualcomm is enabling more ways for wearables to connect and transfer data over the Internet, other than using the smartphone as an interface.
The new Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset packs a 32-bit quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU clocked at up to 1.2GHz, and its Adreno 304 GPU (featured in some of the 200-series chips) can feed displays up to 640×480 pixels at up to 60Hz. The chip also supports NFC and GPS and comes with Quick Charge 2.0 capabilities.
Two versions of the chip will be available – The first is a tethered version, which supports 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 and is designed primarily to be paired with your phone while the second version is a connected version, which also brings in an LTE modem. With the connected version, wearables will be able to stream music, answer calls, send texts and more, without being tethered to a smartphone.
In future, the next generation of smartwatches, as well as other wearables, will be powered by the Wear 2100. LG Electronics said it would launch smartwatches and other wearables with the new Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip by year end.
David Yoon, vice president of wearables at LG Electronics, said: “We are delighted about Qualcomm Technologies’ next-generation wearable plans, are planning to extend our collaboration with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor and look forward to launching new smartwatches and other wearable devices that bring new and innovative use cases to consumers later this year.”
