Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 215 With 64-bit CPU, Dual Camera Support

Qualcomm has launched a new SoC dubbed Snapdragon 215 for budget smartphones. It’s actually an upgrade over its predecessor – Snapdragon 212 SoC with dual rear camera setup support, a 64-bit CPU and a more rapid GPU.

It is known that the CPU has four 1.3Ghz Cortex-A53 cores, which are 50 percent quicker than the quad Cortex-A7 cores found in the old SoC, according to ARM.  The 64-bit CPU is a big upgrade, but it should greatly enhance compatibility with the new Android versions. For instance, the Nokia 2 is still stuck on the Android Oreo.

The GPU of the chipset is an Adreno 308, offering a lower 28 percent boost. It is also the GPU that the Snapdragon 428 used.

Apart from being the first 200 series, the chipset also has a dual ISP, which greatly enhances the support for camera. The new chipset can handle a 13MP sensor or 2 sensors with an 8MP resolution, so smartphones with the chipset are able to have a depth sensor or a telephoto sensor. Additionally, the new SoC can support 1,080p video capture as well. Meanwhile, the old Snapdragon 212 can only handle an 8MP camera and 720p video recording.

The chipset is capable of running a 720p display, although now phone manufacturers can use up to 19:9 aspect ratio displays (the old SoC supported 16:9).

In terms of connectivity, the Snapdragon 215 has a small upgrade when supporting Bluetooth v4.2 and Wifi 802.11ac. Additionally, it also has Android Pay support thanks to improved NFC. Besides, in another first for a 200-series chipset, not only does the chipset support dual VoLTE, but it also features EVS Voice calls.

Several things of the chipset remain unchanged. For example, the SoC still comes with the X5 LTE modem which is capable of download speeds of 150/50Mbps. Memory support of the new chipset is similar to the old one, including UHS-I microSD cards, eMMC 4.5 internal storage, and LPDDR3 RAM.

However, the new SoC only has Quick Charge 1.0 while the older chipset supports QC2.0. Based on the company’s tests carried out on reference smartphones with a 3,000 mAh cell, the SoC is still able to power several days of music back, over 10 hours of video playback, or over 20 hours of voice calls.

In sum, the new Snapdragon 215 is a Snapdragon 425’s portable version. It should power below Rs. 7,000 devices since it works well with modern trends in design.