Qualcomm has announced two new mobile processors that are designed for entry-level to mid-range devices. The 200 and 400 Snapdragon processors are the lower end variations to back up the high-end 600 and 800 processors announced at CES in January. Qualcomm has said we can expect to see the 200 and 400 powering budget smartphones by the end of the year, which means handset manufacturers, are already building devices around them.
As you have probably gathered, the 200 is the lesser of the two processers and will likely be built into entry-level mobile devices. Qualcomm says the 200 Snapdragon will balance performance with and power consumption that includes improved battery life. The 200 Snapdragon features a quad-core ARM Cortex A5 with up to 1.4GHz per core, an Adreno 203 GPU, and support for HD video playback, dual SIM cards, and up to 8 megapixels in the camera.
The 400 is the more robust of the two new Qualcomm processors and will be finding its way to mid-range smartphones as well as mid-level tablet technology. Qualcomm is offering the 400 Snapdragon in two variations, dual-core (up to 1.7GHz per core) and quad-core (up to 1.4GHz per core). Power in the 400 is boosted when compared to its smaller sibling, and the Adreno 205 GPU supports modern cellular radios, offers 1080p HD video and capture, while the processor supports dual SIM cards and up to 13.5-megapixels for the camera.
Qualcomm has announced these two processors the same week that rival company Nvidia has announced its Tegra 4i, a chipset that is the company’s first native 4G LTE processor. Qualcomm has been winning the war of the processor giants of late, with new devices turning to its designs as opposed to Nvidia’s. LG’s new Optimus Pro and the recently launched HTC One both run Qualcomm 600 Snapdragon’s, while the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S4 is also rumoured to feature a Qualcomm chipset.