It seems like Qualcomm is still expanding and improving its midrange category of chipsets, the niche where it has the most offerings. Today marks the announcement of the Snapdragon 636 chipset, which highlights better performance from the earlier versions and support for the trendy FHD+ resolution of displays.
The Snapdragon 636 is basically an upgrade of the Snapdragon 630 and is made from the same 14-nanometer FinFET process as the 630 (and the 660). This will make it easier for manufacturers to use the SD636, since they already have boards and platforms available for the new chip.
The SD636 boasts of an octa-core processor featuring 8 Kryo 260 processors that top out at 1.8GHz. It also carries the Qualcomm X12 LTE modem, boasting of download speeds at 600Mbps. This midrange chipset interestingly has support for the ultra-wide FHD+ displays with 18:9 aspect ratio, a trendy feature to have these days, even in midrange smartphones.
We should expect smartphones to start using this chipset as early as Q1 of 2018. Let’s see if manufacturers pick up on this upgrade from the SD630 for their midrange offerings.
SOURCE: Qualcomm
