Until a year or so ago, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon smartphone processor lineups were fairly easy to understand. But then the 710 came to narrow the gap between the mid-range 6xx family and the flagship 8xx series.
While somewhat confusing at first, the 10 nm-based SoC with a powerful octa-core CPU, blazing fast LTE modem, and advanced built-in AI capabilities for non-flagship handsets quickly made a lot of people excited for a prospective wave of impressive mid-rangers with reasonable price points.
Unfortunately, Snapdragon 710 phones remain almost non-existent on the Western Hemisphere, while elsewhere the Nokia 8.1 and Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (2019) are probably the most prominent members of this upper mid-end club.
Despite the mobile platform’s unusually slow adoption, a sequel is already here, fittingly dubbed Snapdragon 712. This was discreetly announced yesterday as a (very) minor upgrade of 2018’s Snapdragon 710.
The two processors are nearly identical, sharing everything from a 10-nanometer architecture to an Adreno 616 GPU, Snapdragon X15 LTE modem for up to 800 Mbps download speeds and 150 Mbps upload capacity, a Spectra 250 image signal processor with support for up to 20MP dual cameras or a 32MP single shooter, and a multicore AI Engine.
The biggest difference is the eight Kryo 360 CPU cores are now clocked at a maximum speed of 2.3 GHz, up from 2.2 on the Snapdragon 710, which offers the Snapdragon 712 a modest 10 percent or so increase in raw performance.
Other minor tweaks include a bump from Quick Charge 4 to Quick Charge 4+ capabilities for a subtle increase in charging velocity, as well as the addition of proprietary TrueWireless Stereo Plus and Broadcast Audio technologies for Bluetooth audio performance enhancements.
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Basically, the reason this largely rehashed Snapdragon 712 SoC is a thing seems to be encouraging device manufacturers to bring “premium features to more devices.” Hopefully, adoption of 7xx chips will ramp up soon enough, possibly starting with the Pixel 3 Lite XL.
After all, both the Snapdragon 710 and 712 can flex their muscles to deliver “console-like” gaming prowess, “cinematic movie experiences”, and perhaps most importantly, stellar battery life optimizations. Who wouldn't want all that in a $500 or even $400 phone?
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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