Qualcomm’s new wearable chip could bring five-year performance jump

We may finally get a new Snapdragon chip from Qualcomm that will make Android wearables good again.

A recent code commit uncovered by XDA Developers suggests a new Snapdragon Wear chip is on the way. Qualcomm uploads Linux kernel source code for its chipsets on the Code Aurora Forum, which was where XDA spotted the details.

According to the commit, the chip is likely a successor to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 — which proved not to be the wearable saviour many hoped it would be.

The new chip, reportedly called the Snapdragon Wear 3300, is based on the Snapdragon 429 processor, which debuted in 2018. While a chipset to launch in 2020 based on a 2018 processor may not sound like a significant advancement, compared to the 3100, it is.

The 3100 used the same base as the Snapdragon Wear 2100 from 2016, which used the Snapdragon 400 processor as its base. The Snapdragon 400 was a chip designed for mobile phones and actively used in 2013.

In other words, the upcoming 3300 represents about five years of improvement over the last Wear chip.

The most significant improvement with 3300 will probably be with performance. The base of the 3100 uses a 28nm process, while the new 3300 would use a 12nm process. Likely the change could bring increased efficiency and better battery life as well.

Unfortunately, don’t expect to see any new wearables with it this year. Qualcomm will probably release the 3300 next year, and we may see Wear OS devices with the new chip in late 2020.

Source: Code Aurora Via: XDA Developers, 9to5Google