Jul 01, 2020 16:00:00

Qualcomm announces smartwatch processor 'Snapdragon Wear 4100+'

Semiconductor manufacturer Qualcomm announced on June 30, 2020 the new processors 'Snapdragon Wear 4100+' and 'Snapdragon Wear 4100' that will greatly improve the battery life and performance of smart watches.

Snapdragon Wear 4100+ Platform | Qualcomm

https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon-wear-4100-plus-platform

Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 promises better performance and battery life on Wear OS smartwatches
https://www.xda-developers.com/qualcomm-snapdragon-4100-announcement-wear-os-smartwatches/

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 4100 promises faster Wear OS smartwatches-The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/30/21307368/qualcomm-snapdragon-4100-google-wear-os-smartwatch-wearables-faster-battery-life

Qualcomm announced the next-generation smartwatch chipset ' Snapdragon Wear 3100 ' in 2018, but the Snapdragon Wear 3100 is a minor change from the previous model Snapdragon Wear 2100, and the processor itself was the same. Meanwhile, the newly announced Snapdragon Wear 4100+ has achieved unprecedented speed and performance by making major changes to the processor.

The big difference between the flagship model 'Snapdragon Wear 4100+' and the previous model is that the manufacturing process rule changes from 28 nm to 12 nm and it is based on 1.7 GHz/4 core Cortex-A53 instead of 1.1 GHz Cortex A7 So, Qualcomm claims that this results in 85% faster performance. In addition, 'Snapdragon Wear 4100+' is equipped with Adreno 504, LPDDR3 memory (750MHz), eMMC 4.5 storage, and dual ISP (Image Signal Processor) with a maximum of 16 million pixels in the GPU.

Also, unlike before, Qualcomm has two models on the 4100 line, 'Snapdragon Wear 4100 +' and 'Snapdragon Wear 4100'. 'Snapdragon Wear 4100+' is equipped with the main chip 'SDM429w SoC' and the latest version of 'QCC1110 Always-On Co-Processor (AON Co-Processor)' that appeared with the previous model, but 'AON Co-Processor' For developers who do not need 'AON Co-Processor', 'Snapdragon Wear 4100' will be provided.

The CPU improves performance by 85%, the memory speed is 85% faster, the GPU is 2.5 times faster, and the camera can support up to 16 megapixels.

'Snapdragon Wear 4100+' can handle up to 64,000 colors by installing 'AON Co-Processor', heart rate monitoring and sleep for health, high-speed awakening detection by reading inclination, step count , It will be possible to use alarms, timers, and tactile functions, and various functions will be added to smart watches.

Qualcomm has already started shipping the chipset, and it is expected to reach the developers by July 2020 at the earliest.

At the time of writing the article, the smart watch market is monopolized by Samsung Gear and Apple Watch, and the share of smart witch equipped with

Wear OS developed by Google is not large. Meanwhile, Google has acquired Fitness Tracker Fitbit , and with the introduction and acquisition of new processors, it is possible that smart watches with Wear OS will make a leap forward.