Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 450: a 14nm process makes it faster and more efficient

2021-04-18

Entry-level phones are about to get 25% better with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 450 chipset, give or take. Despite its 4-series branding, this one is more of a reworked Snapdragon 625 and comes to replace the Snapdragon 435.

The new chipset features eight Cortex-A53 cores and promises a 25% boost in processing speed over the incumbent S435 chip. It also moves to the Adreno 506 GPU, which will offer a 25% boost in gaming performance.

Of course, the highlight of this new chip is that it’s built on a 14nm process – the first among the 4-series (as expected). Power draw when gaming will be reduced by up to 30% and Qualcomm expects batteries will offer up to 4 hours more of active use compared to the old chip.

The Snapdragon 450 also brings support for new camera features. For one, it can record 1080p @ 60fps video and it supports dual cameras natively (up to 13MP+13MP). It can do real-time bokeh effects too! One thing is lacking compared to the S625 chip, however, and that’s 4K video capture (it is an entry-level chip, after all).

There are a few other improvements, see the table below for a more direct comparison. Just to rattle off a few more specs – USB 3.0 is now supported, QuickCharge 3.0 (80% charge in 35 minutes) and Wi-Fi ac also come included.

Snapdragon 435 Snapdragon 450 Snapdragon 625
Process 28nm (LP) 14 nm (?) 14 nm (LPP)
CPU 8x Cortex-A53 (1.4GHz) 8x Cortex-A53 (?) 8x Cortex-A53 (1.4GHz)
GPU Adreno 505 Adreno 506 Adreno 506
Camera Up to 21MP Up to 21MP / 13MP + 13MP Up to 24MP
Video 1080p @ 30fps 1080p @ 60fps 4K @ 30fps
Max screen res 1080p 1080p 1080p
LTE 300Mbps / 100Mbps 300Mbps / 150Mbps 300Mbps / 150Mbps
Wi-Fi 802.11ac (433Mbps) 802.11ac (433Mhz) 802.11ac (433Mhz)
USB USB 2.0 USB 3.0 USB 3.0
QuickCharge 3.0 3.0 3.0

Source