Qualcomm comes with Snapdragon 778G-soc with mmWave-5G for midrange smartphones
Qualcomm introduces its Snapdragon 778G soc for mid-range smartphones. This chip supports mmWave-5G and Wi-Fi 6E, among others. The company will also release M.2 variants of its X62 and X65-5G modems for laptop and desktop OEMs.
Qualcomm equips the Snapdragon 778G with four fast Cortex-A78 cores, one of which runs at 2.4GHz and three at 2.2GHz. The soc also features four more energy-efficient A55 cores with a clock speed of 1.9GHz. The 778G also features a three-way setup image signal processors. That’s a feature introduced in the Snapdragon 888 5G. With three of these ISPs, smartphones can simultaneously take photos and record videos with three separate camera sensors.
| Snapdragon 778G versus Snapdragon 780G and Snapdragon 765G | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chip | Snapdragon 778G | Snapdragon 780G | Snapdragon 765G |
| CPU cores | 1x Cortex-A78, 2.40GHz 3x Cortex-A78, 2.20GHz 4x Cortex-A55, 1.90GHz |
1x Cortex-A78, 2.40GHz 3x Cortex-A78, 2.20GHz 4x Cortex-A55, 1.90GHz |
1x Cortex-A76, 2.40GHz 1x Cortex-A76, 2.20GHz 6x Cortex-A55, 1.80GHz |
| Process | TSMC 6nm | Samsung 5nm | Samsung 7nm |
| GPU | Adreno 642L | Adreno 642 | Adreno 620 |
| Memory | Lpddr5-3200 | Lpddr4x-2133 | Lpddr4x-2133 |
| Is P | 3x Spectra 570 | 3x Spectra 570 | 2x Spectra 355 |
| Modem | Integrated: X53 5G: mmWave and sub-6GHz |
Integrated: X53 5G: sub-6GHz only |
Integrated: X52 5G: mmWave and sub-6GHz |
The Snapdragon 778G shows many similarities with the higher-positioned Snapdragon 780G-soc, which Qualcomm announced in March. For example, both chips have the same types of cores with identical clock speeds. The 778G is produced on TSMC’s 6nm node, while the 780G is produced at Samsung using a 5nm process. The Adreno 642 GPU from the 780G will also be exchanged for an Adreno 642L GPU. Presumably, this GPU variant has lower clock speeds, although the company has not yet confirmed this.
It is also striking that the 780G does not support mmWave-5G, while the lower positioned 778G does. Both chips support the new Wi-Fi 6E standard, which includes support for 6GHz frequencies. Furthermore, the 778G supports less extensive camera setups compared to the 780G. The Snapdragon 778G should appear in smartphones in the second quarter of this year. Companies such as Motorola, Realme, Honor and Oppo are currently working on phones with this soc, Qualcomm reports.
5G modems for desktops and laptops
Qualcomm also comes with M.2 versions of its current X62 and X65 modems. This makes it easier for laptop and desktop OEMs to provide their devices with 5G connectivity. Both modems support mmWave and sub-6GHz-5G on paper, although OEMs must also use the correct antennas in their products.
Qualcomm announced the X65 modem earlier this year, although the M.2 version is new. This M.2 variant, like the previously announced version, could handle throughput speeds of up to 10Gbit / s. Qualcomm reports that the X65 and X62 modems with M.2 interface are already available to customers of the company.