Qualcomm 215 mobile platform extends battery for entry-level smartphones
The latest addition to Qualcomm’s 2-series, the Qualcomm 215 mobile platform aims to bring leading mobile experiences to entry-level smartphone buyers. It has a 64-bit CPU and dual-ISPs (image signal processors). Kedar Kondap, vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, said: “We’re raising the bar for mass market devices and enabling experiences that were never before possible in the 2-series”.
There are four Arm Cortex-A53 cores, to deliver up to 50 per cent increased CPU performance compared with the previous generation. This is the first 64-bit CPU in the 2-series and offers better device longevity via support for modern 64-bit applications. There is also an integrated Qualcomm Hexagon digital signal processor (DSP) engineered to support up to over five days of music playback. The Qualcomm Adreno 308 graphics processing unit (GPU), display and video processing engines supporting more than 10 hours of video playback. Qualcomm 215 also supports Qualcomm Quick Charge technology, engineered to charge up to 75 per cent faster than traditional implementations, for lower power and thermal dissipation and reduced charge times, without virtually any performance trade-offs, claims the company.
For the first time in the 2-series, dual ISPs are used to support dual camera performance. Dual cameras can enable optical zoom and depth sensing for richer, detailed photos, up to 13Mpixels. The Qualcomm 215 is the first to support HD+ resolution displays in the 2-series. The Adreno 308 GPU, boosts gaming performance by 28 per cent, compared to the previous generation.
For cellular connectivity, there is an integrated Qualcomm Snapdragon X5 modem which supports LTE Cat 4 with carrier aggregation for faster data rates and download speeds up to 150Mbits per second.
Qualcomm reports that this is the first platform in the 2-series to support EVS Voice calls (ultra HD voice calls”) and dual sim with dual voice-over-LTE (VoLTE). This features allows the user to use multiple SIMs for concurrent high-quality 4G LTE voice and data, separation of work and personal accounts, and optimise cellular connectivity costs taking advantage of multiple plans.
Commercial devices based on Qualcomm 215 are expected to be available in second half 2019.
