Qualcomm announces new Snapdragon Wear 4100 and 4100+ processors for next-gen smartwatches

Qualcomm today announced the new Snapdragon Wear 4100+ and Snapdragon Wear 4100 platforms for next-generation connected smartwatches. The Snapdragon Wear 4100+ platform includes a high performance SoC with improved CPU, GPU, Memory, Cellular Modem, and Camera sub-systems in 12nm low power process with dual dedicated DSPs for modem/location and sensors/audio, an AON ultra-low power co-processor for offloading a series of use cases including display, sensors, maps, and time and an improved software interface to manage the interactions between the SOC and the co-processor.

Key highlights of Snapdragon Wear 4100+ include:

• Super-Fast Performance and Connectivity: The SoC comprises of quad-core A53 processors, Qualcomm Adreno 504 class graphics processing, faster LPDDR3 memory (750MHz), and dual ISPs with support for up to16 megapixel cameras. Snapdragon Wear 4100+ is designed to deliver more than 85% faster performance, compared to Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform, and enhances the overall user experience with faster app launches, concurrent use cases, smoother & responsive UX, and richer photo & video experiences.
• The 4G LTE mode, based on 12nm process technology, has been significantly improved from our previous platform with a dedicated DSP, low power features such as eDRX , platform-level power management, support for Cat 4/3/1 and single/dual antennas.
• Smarter Always-On (AON) Co-Processor: Enhanced AON co-processor supports richer offloaded experiences. We have partitioned memory and performance to enable up to 64K colors (from 16 colors) and extend offload experiences to include continuous heart rate monitoring and sleep for health and wellness, faster tilt-to-wake responsiveness, step counting, alarms, timers, and haptics for a more capable traditional watch mode.
• Ultra-Low Power Platform: Low power optimizations include 12nm low power process technology, dual DSPs for optimal workload partitioning, support for dynamic clock and voltage scaling, Qualcomm Sensor Assisted Positioning PDR Wearables 2.0, low power location tracking support, and an enhanced Bluetooth 5.0 architecture. These improvements are designed to deliver more than 25% power reductions across key use cases and bring extended battery life to the platform (compared to our previous platforms).
• Richer, Enhanced Experiences: The hybrid platform approach brings rich, enhanced experiences across interactive, ambient, sports, and watch modes. In interactive mode, the platform supports additional immersive experiences with camera, voice assistant, and voice/video messaging. In ambient mode, the increase in number of colors from 16 to 64K and number kerning is designed to make readability crisper and offers more exciting design options. In sports mode, offloaded maps enhance the on-the-run experience. The traditional watch mode includes features such as heart rate, steps, alarms, reminders, and battery indicator, with minimal impact on performance or battery life.

Qualcomm will be selling Snapdragon Wear 4100 platforms in the following two variants:

• the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ platform which includes the main SOC (SDM429w or SDA429w) and the AON Co-Processor (QCC1110), along with the companion chips including PMIC, RF for Modem/GPS and WiFi/BT, and RFFE
• the Snapdragon Wear 4100 platform which comprises of the main SOC along with the companion chips

Smartwatches powered by Snapdragon Wear 4100 platforms will be coming soon to the market.

Source: Qualcomm