Qualcomm

277 'Qualcomm' stories June 2011 - May 2016

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Sony brings its budget-friendly Xperia E5 to the market

Edoardo Maggio May 31 2016 - 4:59 am PT

In the myriad of flagship devices that get announced almost every month, we tend to forget that a big chunk of Android customers comprises people that care little about all the fancy features higher-end devices carry, and mostly need a tool to get a few things done.

That’s the market Sony is targeting with its latest handset. After quickly retracting all mentions of the Xperia E5 from social media briefly after unveiling it last week, the Japanese firm is officially announcing the device today…

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Asus announces its new Zenfone 3, alongside premium “Deluxe” and massive “Ultra”

Edoardo Maggio May 30 2016 - 4:22 am PT

Over the past few years, a common trend in the smartphone world saw a myriad of OEMs pushing out a multitude of flagships. As demand for bigger-screened devices arose, so did the request for smaller handsets, often leading to at least two versions of the same device.

Asus is today pushing those boundaries even further, presenting us with not two but three flagship devices, part of the new Zenfone 3 family…

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LG G5 is fully USB C compliant despite Quick Charge 3.0 support, research finds

Edoardo Maggio May 23 2016 - 5:52 am PT

As it often happens with new technologies — especially the ones that aim to replace fundamental, widely used parts of our digital devices — the early implementations are often challenged by a series of missteps and various other problems.

The latest concrete example of this is the promising-yet-troubled USB-C, which led to a few controversies as of late. However, it seems, with its latest G5 flagship, LG may be one of the few manufacturers that got it right (via gtrusted)…

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Korea Times: Xiaomi considering building its own processors, dealing further blow to Qualcomm’s chip business

Cam Bunton Apr 25 2016 - 6:27 am PT

Xiaomi

In an announcement which could deal a further blow to Qualcomm’s slowing processor business, Xiaomi is seemingly about to reveal plans to build its own CPUs in-house. In a report published by Korea Times, it’s claimed that the major Chinese smartphone maker will use the industry-standard ARM license technology to make its own ‘Rifle’-branded SoCs.

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Qualcomm (vaguely) responds to reports of Quick-Charge 3.0 being Type-C non-compliant

Cam Bunton Apr 23 2016 - 8:27 am PT

Earlier this week we brought you news that Google engineer, Benson Leung suggested quite strongly that the LG G5 and HTC 10 (and any other device using Quick-Charge technology and a Type-C connector) was technically not compliant with USB Type-C specification. Because of the way Quick-Charge 2.0 and 3.0 delivers the charge, it restricts some of USB Type-C’s functions by taking up the data lines.

While we’re yet to hear any kind of response from LG or HTC, Qualcomm has (sort of) answered the criticism by half suggesting it’s up to manufacturers to choose how they implement the technology, and that there have been no complaints so far from customers.

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Lenovo-backed Zuk unveils its new Z2 Pro, with 6GB of RAM, f1.8 OIS camera, Snapdragon 820, more

Edoardo Maggio Apr 21 2016 - 4:44 am PT

The spring hardware refresh seems to be on a roll, and this year, in addition to the usual Samsungs, LGs and HTCs, a slew of Chinese manufacturers are making their way to the market with improved, highly-specced and often premium designed high end handsets.

While not all of them make it to the West, at least initially — like the just unveiled LeEco “superphones” — these devices are certainly worthy of consideration. One of them is the Zuk Z2 Pro, the new flagship of the Lenovo-backed Chinese brand that wrapped up the presentation earlier today…

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Qualcomm teases HTC 10 Snapdragon chip ahead of next week’s launch

Cam Bunton Apr 8 2016 - 4:11 am PT

HTC has been publishing its own revealing teasers for the upcoming flagship smartphone over the past few weeks. The HTC 10 is going to have ‘the best BoomSound yet‘, a ‘compelling camera‘, and a shiny, polished chamfer on the back according to the manufacture’s past tweets. Now Qualcomm has joined in with the pre-launch games…

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See the Exynos-powered Galaxy S7 edge out its US Snapdragon 820 sibling [Video]

Edoardo Maggio Mar 24 2016 - 6:52 pm PT

The Galaxy S7 and its curved-screen sibling are fast phones. Incredibly fast. Despite the demanding QHD panels, 4GB of RAM paired with a snappy processor keep things consistently smooth. However, unlike last year’s entire Galaxy S6 family – which mounted the Samsung-made Exynos 7420 – for 2016 Samsung decided to restore some faith in Qualcomm, whose faulty Snapdragon 810 processor gave certain devices more than one issue last year. In the United States, in fact, both Galaxy S7s use a Snapdragon 820 SoC; a choice which of course needed to lead to some controversy…

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The Galaxy S7 might have a ‘chipgate’ of its own, but most users probably won’t notice

Edoardo Maggio Mar 8 2016 - 7:01 am PT

Among the numerous changes made by Samsung with last year’s pair of Galaxy S6 flagships, the decision to stick with the Exynos 7420 everywhere the device was shipped stood out particularly. Common practice for the South Korean giant was to manufacture its high-end handsets with Snapdragon chips in the mainstream markets of Europe and the United States, while delivering an Exynos-powered experience in Asia.

Given the Snapdragon 810’s notorious over-heating problems, however, it was probably a good decision; but Qualcomm set to come back in full swing this year, obtaining a deal that sees US-bound Galaxy S7s equipped with their SoC. This, however, seems to have created major discrepancies between the two models’ performances; according to AnTuTu tests, a negligible 5% difference sets the two models apart as far as CPU power goes, while up to a massive 32% gap separates the greatly superior Snapdragon 820 from the seemingly under-performing Exynos 8890 in GPU-related benchmarks…

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Like the Galaxy S7, Sony’s Xperia X and X Performance have no Quick-Charge 3.0 support despite compatible processors

Cam Bunton Mar 3 2016 - 2:34 am PT

A couple of days back, it came to light that Samsung had opted not to include Qualcomm’s latest fast-charging technology in the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge. This decision was made despite the fact that US, China and Japan’s models are equipped with the Snapdragon 820 processor, which we know is capable of supporting Quick-Charge 3.0. Sony, likewise it seems, has opted not to include Quick Charge 3.0 support in any of its new Xperia X phones.

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PSA: Unlike LG’s G5, the Galaxy S7 doesn’t have support for Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0

Edoardo Maggio Mar 1 2016 - 10:48 am PT

Battery life is undoubtedly one of the major pain points most consumers have with their smartphones. Because of technological limitations, OEMs often have to find workarounds for squeezing out as much screen on (and off) time as possible, often working on software optimizations or simply trying to fit a larger unit inside the body of the device – at times making it removable.

Another way of circumventing such limitation took form in the way of making batteries recharge much faster, thanks to technologies such as Qualcomm‘s ‘Quick Charge’, which has now arrived at its v3.0. Expected to hit the majority of 2016 flagships, – like the LG G5, which does indeed support it – the latest iteration didn’t however make it to the Samsung Galaxy S7 (and S7 edge), which stuck with last year’s 2.0…

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Rapid-charging race heats up as Oppo claims full charge in 15 mins over MicroUSB or USB-C

Ben Lovejoy Feb 23 2016 - 4:52 am PT

The race to allow us to rapidly charge our smartphones got a big boost last year when Qualcomm announced that the Quick Charge 3.0 tech in its Snapdragon 820 chip would allow a typical smartphone to be charged to 80% capacity in 30 minutes. Oppo is now claiming that you’ll be able to recharge some of its devices in just 15 minutes, reports Engadget.

Oppo says that’s about how much time it’ll take to charge a dead 2,500mAh battery to 100%, and that the technology will work over traditional MicroUSB and USB Type-C cables …

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Qualcomm introduces new, more powerful & efficient mid-range Snapdragon 625, 435 + 425 processors

Cam Bunton Feb 11 2016 - 9:23 am PT

Following up its Snapdragon Wear 2100 announcement, Qualcomm has introduced three new low/mid-tier processors to power the next wave of affordable smartphones. The latest additions are the Snapdragon 625, 435 and 425, and all include a notable improvement on previous generation SoCs.

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Samsung is manufacturing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor

Abner Li Jan 13 2016 - 6:40 pm PT

Samsung announced today that they will be manufacturing Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 820 chip. In particular, the Korean company cites how the Snapdragon chips will take advantage of a new 14-nanometer process and that it will be available on devices being released during the first half of the year.

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Xiaomi ‘Gemini’ benchmark leaks, suggests Snapdragon 820 will be really fast

Cam Bunton Nov 12 2015 - 4:10 am PT

Qualcomm promised when it launched the Snapdragon 820 that it’s next processor would offer a huge jump in performance and efficiency over its predecessor. If a benchmark result on Geekbench is anything to go by, those claims look like they’ll be true. Those worried by the fact it’s ‘only’ quad-core should stop worrying now.

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Samsung Galaxy S7 firmware development reportedly begins, could signal early announcement

Cam Bunton Nov 11 2015 - 6:58 am PT

Samsung has begun development on the firmware for both versions of the upcoming Galaxy S7, according to reports (via SamMobile). Development on both G930FXXU0AOK6 and G935FXXU0AOK6 started this month, perhaps signaling the phone could arrive earlier than usual. Last year, the same development work didn’t start until December, and the phone was announced at the beginning of March, at MWC in Barcelona. If there’s a similar gap between development and release this time around, we could see a phone announced as early as January or early February…

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Snapdragon 820 processor officially announced, features Quick-Charge 3.0, Adreno 530 GPU, 600Mbps LTE cat. 12, more

Cam Bunton Nov 10 2015 - 9:02 am PT

After months of testing, and pre-release teasers, Qualcomm has finally taken the wraps off its next generation flagship Snapdragon processor. The Snapdragon 820 has a number of capabilities and features which should mean all parts of your phone experience are fast and efficient. Surprisingly, the chip features half the number of cores found in the 810 chip, but promises to boost performance across the board…

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Report: Google wants to design its own smartphone chips to more directly compete with Apple

Chance Miller Nov 5 2015 - 3:17 pm PT

According to a new report from Amir Efrati of The Information, Google has recently been in discussions with microchip manufacturers about having a deeper involvement in the design of chips used in Android devices. Google hopes to help create a more uniform offering of Android phones by taking part in the chip design process with a company like Qualcomm.

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Huawei announces flagship Kirin 950 octa-core processor, will give Snapdragon 820 a run for its money

Cam Bunton Nov 5 2015 - 2:31 am PT

Right on schedule, Huawei took the wraps off its next generation mobile processor at an event in Beijing this morning. The Kirin 950 packs in some impressive specs and looks set to give Qualcomm’s already-troubled Snapdragon 820 chip some stiff competition…

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Qualcomm: Rumors of Snapdragon 820 overheating are not true

Cam Bunton Oct 29 2015 - 4:00 am PT

A couple of days back, rumors emerged claiming that Samsung was working hard to deal with heating problems found while testing the Snapdragon 820 processor in its upcoming Galaxy S7. Although it’s similar to the rumors surrounding the SD810 last year, it was still surprising. Qualcomm stated earlier in the year that its next processor has enhanced performance and efficiency. A stance which the manufacturer was keen to repeat on Weibo having seen those Samsung rumors:

Some recent media reports about Xiaolong 820 rumors performance is not real news.Xiaolong 820 processor all IP modules are to achieve improvement and enhancement, and the use of second-generation 14-nanometer manufacturing process. Xiaolong 820 reached all our design specifications. More importantly, the Xiaolong 820 OEM manufacturers to meet the requirements of its terminal cooling and performance specifications

Qualcomm is no stranger to controversy surrounding the performance of its mobile processors. Last year, the Snapdragon 810 was dropped from the Galaxy S6 before launch, allegedly due to overheating problems. (Qualcomm denied those reports too.) Even devices that shipped with the chip had to under-clock them to deal with the problem, forcing Qualcomm to ship a revised edition. This was a major factor in Qualcomm’s disastrous year. A lack of confidence in new Snapdragon processors, and the rise of competitive lower-priced chips forced the company to make drastic cuts.

The Snapdragon 820, like its predecessor, is facing controversy even before it’s launched, and that’s not good news for Qualcomm. Even if the rumors aren’t true, it won’t do much to inspire confidence in the brand and could lead to a rise in orders from companies like MediaTek and Intel.

Report claims Samsung modifying Snapdragon 820 for Galaxy S7 due to ‘heat problems’

Cam Bunton Oct 27 2015 - 1:05 pm PT

A new report from Business Korea has a striking air of familiarity about it. According to the site’s sources, Samsung is working hard to ‘stabilize’ Qualcomm’s next generation Snapdragon 820 processor. Samsung is purportedly modifying the processor’s control program to deal with its ‘heat problems’. If that doesn’t work, it will build a radiating pipe in to its next flagship phones to stop the processor from overheating…

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Teardown reveals Nexus 5X is easily repairable, includes Qualcomm Quick Charge chip

Jordan Kahn Oct 22 2015 - 12:52 pm PT

As usual, iFixit has cracked into the latest Nexus device, Google’s Nexus 5X manufactured by LG, to give us our first look at the insides of the device and some insight into just how repairable it will be for owners.

Google’s Android team already filled us in on why it left out Qi Charging on the new Nexus devices (the reversible USB Type-C included is simply more efficient, it said), but we didn’t get an answer on why it didn’t take advantage of Qualcomm’s Quick Charge technology. It turns out the device actually includes a chip that supports the feature, the Qualcomm SMB1358, Quick Charge 2.0 IC, as confirmed in the teardown earlier today. And Qualcomm supports the Nexus 5X’s new USB-Type C connector, so it’s still a possibility the feature could be enabled for the device in the future.

But apart from getting a look inside of the device for the first time, the teardown doesn’t reveal many details we didn’t already know. It does, however, show that Nexus 5X is easily repairable compared to much of its competition with a score of 7 out of 10 meaning most components of the device will be easy to swap in and out or fix. The one downside iFixit noticed included a fused display assembly, which it noted means the “glass and LCD will need to be replaced together if one or the other breaks.”

The positives include the fact that several components “are modular and can be replaced independently,” according to iFixit, and that a standard Phillips screw driver, and not proprietary tools and parts like other devices, is all that’s necessary to open the device.

You can check out iFixit’s full tear down here.

Report: Samsung Galaxy S7 will have Snapdragon 820 in US & Chinese markets, Exynos elsewhere

Cam Bunton Oct 2 2015 - 2:58 am PT

Following evidence suggesting that Samsung has tested at least two revisions of the Snapdragon 820 processor in its next flagship, the Galaxy S7, a new report claims that the upcoming smartphone will indeed ship with Qualcomm’s next high-end chip. Korean publication, ETNews claims that Samsung will be targeting its biggest markets (America and China) with the SD820-equipped smartphone…

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Samsung testing Snapdragon 820 in Galaxy S7 according to leaked benchmarks

Cam Bunton Sep 22 2015 - 5:52 am PT

Samsung caused a lot of chatter in the tech scene when it decided to eschew Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips in favor of its own Exynos processors this year. All four of Samsung’s high end devices feature its own processor in every market worldwide. But that could change next year. According to a few leaks posted to Chinese social network, weibo, Qualcomm has sent a few different versions of its Snapdragon 820 processor to Samsung for testing in its Galaxy S7.

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