Last year, Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon 700-series SoCs to address a developing market segment that some have called "Premium B" to cope with the ongoing phenomenon of flagship cost runaway. The company later appended an offshoot skew in the 730G for the burgeoning gaming phone sector which presses value and performance to extremes. Today, in the same effective breath it announced the Snapdragon 865 with, the chipmaker has also spoken of the Snapdragon 765 and the 765G, and yes, they're the first in their series to get 5G support.
The company was a bit lighter on details for these chipsets than it was for its star product. We do know that their CPUs are made of eight Kryo 475 cores — six power-efficient cores, a performance core, and a "prime" core. The new Hexagon 696 DSP with native Tensor processing is touted to be twice as powerful as its predecessor. The ISP is able to process simultaneous image capture and video at 4K in 10-bit HDR as well as the HLG and HDR10+ codecs. It also supports the aptX Adaptive audio codec which can prioritize latency over quality and vice versa as needed plus the Qualcomm Sensing Hub for ambient pick-up of voice commands. The Quick Charge version has not been specified, but it does have Quick Charge AI that can stretch a battery's useful life by up to 200 days.
As with the 730 and 730G, the only significant specification split between the Snapdragon 765 and 765G is how fast the Adreno 620 GPU is clocked: the normal version is said to be 20% faster than the 730's GPU while the gaming version is meant to be 20% faster than that. A suite of Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gaming software features are targeted to deliver sharper HDR10 visuals and low latency for multiplayer via 5G. If you're just watching movies, the Adreno also supports Dolby Vision for playback.
Speaking of 5G, both packages come with the Snapdragon X52 modem which support millimeter wave and sub-6GHz spectrum on both time and frequency division distributions and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (accessing a signal from a dual-mode 4G/5G tower) in "all key regions." These factors and a bunch of optimizations should help the X52 reap peak download speeds up to 3.7Gbps and uploads up to 1.6Gbps.
Stacking the DSP and GPU with the modem, Qualcomm touts a maximum workload of 5.5 trillion operations per second — roughly one-third the Snapdragon 865's top throughput. Still, 5.5 TOPS should be enough of a workout if the price and strategy is right for phone manufacturers.
The Snapdragon 765 and 765G will be available to OEMs in the first quarter, so expect some fresh phones featuring these chipsets mid-year 2020.
PRESS RELEASE
Qualcomm Extends its Mobile Leadership by Bringing 5G Experiences to More Users Around the World
Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 and 765G Integrates Best-in-Class 5G Connectivity and Artificial Intelligence
Devices Expected to be Commercially Available in First Quarter 2020
MAUI, HAWAII — December 4, 2019 — Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. unveiled the first 7-series Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ mobile platform to help make advanced 5G available to more consumers. The new Snapdragon 765 and 765G unite the second-generation Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 5G Modem-RF System and 5th generation Qualcomm® Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engine to deliver best-in-class mobile experiences, including intelligent multi-camera capabilities, breakthrough entertainment, and high-speed gaming, while also preserving battery life.
“We expect 5G to be the fastest cellular transition in history. As the world’s leading wireless technology innovator, we are committed to driving 5G throughout our Snapdragon tiers in record time,” said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager, mobile, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Our expanded portfolio including Snapdragon 765 and 765G has the potential to make 5G accessible to billions of smartphone users around the world and help enable experiences like high-speed gaming, intelligent multi-camera capture, and all-day battery life, on a global scale.”
Benefits of the Snapdragon 765 include:
End-to-End 5G Connectivity: Snapdragon 765 with the Snapdragon X52 Modem-RF System is a huge milestone on the path to commercializing 5G globally. The Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X52 5G Modem-RF System is designed to deliver the trifecta of fast multi-gigabit peak download speeds of up to 3.7 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 1.6 Gbps, superior coverage for users around the world and all-day battery life.The comprehensive Modem-RF System-approach allows advanced technologies such as Qualcomm® 5G PowerSave, Qualcomm® Smart Transmit™ technology, Qualcomm® Wideband Envelope Tracking technology and Qualcomm® Signal Boost to help deliver these superb 5G capabilities. Dedicated to bringing superior 5G multimode connectivity far and wide globally, the Snapdragon 765 supports all key regions and frequency bands including 5G mmWave and sub-6 GHz, 5G SA and NSA modes, TDD and FDD with Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS), global 5G roaming and support for multi-SIM.
5th Generation AI Engine: The new 5th generation Qualcomm® AI Engine, combined with the new 5G Modem-RF System, heightens nearly every mobile experience including camera, audio, voice and gaming. Snapdragon 765’s AI Engine features a new Qualcomm® Hexagon™ Tensor accelerator that is 2x faster than its predecessor1, fueling mobile experiences that are sophisticated and seamless. Also, the new low-power Qualcomm® Sensing Hub enables your device to be contextually aware of your voice commands – without excessive battery drain.
Intelligent Multi-Camera Capture: Snapdragon 765’s intelligent multi-camera capture allows users to choose from telephoto, wide, and ultra-wide lenses and create breathtaking photos without any extra equipment. Snapdragon 765 can also capture 4K HDR video in over a billion shades of color.
Breakthrough Entertainment: Snapdragon 765 delivers intelligent, binge-worthy media at breakthrough 5G speeds enabling extremely fast downloads and seamless 4K HDR video streaming so you can get the latest movie or TV show in brilliant quality and in a short matter of minutes. And even while offline, on-device AI processing can transform standard video quality into the vibrant, electrifying visuals you’d expect with 4K. Qualcomm® aptX™ Adaptive audio auto-adjusts between high definition mode and low latency mode, keeping audio in sync with media and reducing audio/lip-synchronization issues.
Enhanced Performance: The new Qualcomm® Kryo™ 475 will feature speeds of up to 2.3 GHz and the state-of-the-art Qualcomm® Adreno™ 620 GPU delivers up to 20% performance uplift2, creating seamless gaming, video rendering and more. In addition to incredible battery life, on-device AI helps ensure peak efficiency throughout daily use, intelligently monitoring battery health and safety while ensuring everything runs more intuitively. And Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ AI enables the extension of battery life cycles up to 200 days and helps you achieve peak charging speeds so you can get back to the activities you love without hesitation.
Snapdragon 765G Snapdragon 765G combines a dual force of 5G and AI, along with a host of select Qualcomm® Snapdragon Elite Gaming™ features to deliver unbridled gaming performance. Built upon Snapdragon 765, Snapdragon 765G offers up to 5.5 TOPS of AI performance and 20% faster graphics rendering with a bolstered Adreno GPU. Next-level Snapdragon Elite Gaming features are included to provide special game extensions and optimizations, smoother gameplay and more enhanced detail and colors with true 10-bit HDR to deliver high quality mobile gaming experiences. Snapdragon 765G is designed to deliver select premium tier experiences to gamers and with multi-gigabit 5G gaming, we’ve made it possible for players to game on the go, virtually anytime and anywhere.
Devices based on Snapdragon 765 and 765G are expected to be commercially available in the first quarter of 2020.