Skip to main content

Snapdragon Wear 5100 leak suggests no major CPU gains over its predecessor

Qualcomm's upcoming smartwatch processor might keep its Cortex-A53 cores after all.

What you need to know

  • Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon Wear 5100 has been spotted with four ARM Cortex-A53 cores, not Cortex-A73 cores as previous reports suggested.
  • These CPU cores are similar to the ones used for the company's previous-generation wearable chipsets.
  • Samsung and SMIC are reportedly supplying the chipset to Qualcomm.

Qualcomm's next-generation wearable chipset, dubbed the Snapdragon Wear 5100, was recently spotted with a quad-core CPU featuring ARM Cortex-A73 cores. While the leak promised a significant performance boost over the chipset's predecessor, a new report suggests that this may not be the case.

The processor will supposedly have four ARM Cortex-A53 cores instead of the more powerful Cortex-A73 cores as previous rumors claimed, according to WinFuture. This information is based on initial samples that were tested by Qualcomm, although it didn't include details about the clock speed and fabrication technology.

If the report turns out to be correct, Qualcomm's upcoming smartwatch processor won't ship with a major chip upgrade as initially expected. The previous-generation Snapdragon Wear 4100 and 4100+, which launched last year, featured 12nm-based Cortex-A53 cores, although the 4100+ variant shipped with a low-power coprocessor to take some of the load from the main processor.

This leaves the Snapdragon Wear 5100 stuck with old CPU cores. That is way too far behind the 5nm-based Samsung Exynos W920 that powers some of the best Android smartwatches including the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic.

However, Qualcomm may make up for that trade-off in other areas. The report says the company is testing the chipset in various configurations that use 1GB or 2GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 8GB or 16GB of eMMC-based flash storage. In addition, the processor is reportedly being tested with cameras featuring 5MP and 16MP sensors. That said, there are no indications about future smartwatches rocking a camera.

Like its predecessor, the next-gen chipset is also rumored to have an ultra-low-power coprocessor to handle menial tasks like logging health data in power-saving mode. As for the production side, Samsung's semiconductor division and China's SMIC will reportedly supply the chipset to Qualcomm.

Given that the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ has only recently begun to appear in a handful of new wearables including the Fossil Gen 6 series, any actual smartwatch powered by the Snapdragon Wear 5100 may take a while to hit the market. This may buy Qualcomm some time to improve its wearable chipsets in order to meet the increasing power demand from new and upcoming Wear OS smartwatches.

Fossil Gen 6

$299 at Fossil $299 at Best Buy

The Fossil Gen 6 is Fossil's latest Wear OS smartwatch that offers faster performance, improved fitness features, and longer battery life. It comes in seven styles with four colorways in a 44mm case and three colorways in a 42mm variant.



Source: androidcentral

Popular posts from this blog

The hidden cost of food delivery

Noah Lichtenstein Contributor Share on Twitter Noah Lichtenstein is the founder and managing partner of Crossover , a diversified private technology fund backed by institutional investors, technology execs and professional athletes and entertainers. More posts by this contributor What Studying Students Teaches Us About Great Apps I’ll admit it: When it comes to food, I’m lazy. There are dozens of great dining options within a few blocks of my home, yet I still end up ordering food through delivery apps four or five times per week. With the growing coronavirus pandemic closing restaurants and consumers self-isolating, it is likely we will see a spike in food delivery much like the 20% jump China reported during the peak of its crisis. With the food delivery sector rocketing toward a projected $365 billion by the end of the decade, I’m clearly not the only one turning to delivery apps even before the pandemic hit. Thanks to technology (and VC funding) we can get a ri

Cyber Monday Canada: Last-minute deals for everyone on your list

Best Cyber Monday Canada deals: Smart Home Audio Phones, Tablets & Accessories Wearables Laptops & PC Components Amazon products Gaming Televisions Cameras Lifestyle & Kitchen Toys & Kids Cyber Monday Canada is here, and retailers are rolling out the red carpet for customers who want to shop for everything from tech to kitchenware to games and everything in between. Unlike years past, Cyber Monday Canada deals look a bit different than normal. Instead of retailers trying to pack their stores with as many shoppers as possible, we're seeing tons of online deals that you can take advantage of from the comfort of your home. We've rounded up our favorites below, so feel free to browse through the best of what Canada Cyber Monday has to offer! This list is being updated with new Cyber Monday deals all the time, so check back often. Spotlight deals It's a Switch Nintendo Switch Fortnite Edition bundle $399.95 at Amazon It's a Switch.

Slack’s new integration deal with AWS could also be about tweaking Microsoft

Slack and Amazon announced a big integration late yesterday afternoon. As part of the deal, Slack will use Amazon Chime for its call feature, while reiterating its commitment to use AWS as its preferred cloud provider to run its infrastructure. At the same time, AWS has agreed to use Slack for internal communications. Make no mistake, this is a big deal as the SaaS communications tool increases its ties with AWS, but this agreement could also be about slighting Microsoft and its rival Teams product by making a deal with a cloud rival. In the past Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield has had choice words for Microsoft saying the Redmond technology giant sees his company as an “existential threat.” Whether that’s true or not — Teams is but one piece of a huge technology company — it’s impossible not to look at the deal in this context. Aligning more deeply with AWS sends a message to Microsoft, whose Azure infrastructure services compete with AWS. Butterfield didn’t say that of course

iPhone 13 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer's Guide: 50+ Differences Compared

The iPhone 15 Pro brings over 50 new features and improvements to Apple's high-end smartphones compared to the iPhone 13 Pro, which was released two years prior. This buyer's guide breaks down every major difference you should be aware of between the two generations and helps you to decide whether it's worth upgrading. The ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro debuted in 2021, introducing a brighter display with ProMotion technology for refresh rates up to 120Hz, the A15 Bionic chip, a telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, Macro photography and photographic styles, Cinematic mode for recording videos with shallow depth of field, ProRes video recording, a 1TB storage option, and five hours of additional battery life. The ‌iPhone 13‌ Pro was discontinued upon the announcement of the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022, but it is still possible to get hold of it second-hand. Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two iPhone models is best for you and serves as a way to c