Qualcomm’s new chipset may give Wear OS watches a much needed boost
Qualcomm is testing out a new chipset that comes with 64-bit support. The hope is it will give Wear OS watches a much needed boost.
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The news comes from WinFuture. Their sources say the San Diego-based manufacturer is working on a platform with the names WTP2700 and WTP429W. The first three letters stand for “wearable testing platform”. It is believed the chipset is based on the Snapdragon 429 chip that powers some mid-tier Android tablets and smartphones.
In terms of features, the Snapdragon Wear 429 (possibly called Wear 2700) has some significant design upgrades over the current platform. It comes packing 64-bit support and four CPU Cortex-A53 cores running at 2GHz. This should offer power saving, better efficiency and software compatibly, as well as faster storage thanks to EMMC 5.1 support. As you’d expect, the chipset also has support for Bluetooth 5.0 and LTE.
According to WinFuture, the platforms in testing come with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of memory. This doubles the storage of most current Wear OS watches.
Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon Wear 3100 in September last year. It brought new low-power modes, sports watch-focused tweaks and improved always-on watch faces. This was achieved by adding a secondary low-power processor (the QC1110), which handles most of the work when a smartwatch is not in use. The processor essentially combines new technology with the same core design from a 2013 chip.
However, we’ve only seen a handful of watches with the 3100. This includes Fossil Sport Louis Vuitton Tamobour Horizon and Montblanc Summit 2. Other watches, including some new ones, are running on the ageing Snapdragon Wear 2100.
The 429 chip is still work in progress so it’s looking like we may not see it this year. But hopefully it will launch in 2020 and address one of the biggest problems of Wear OS watches – the platform they are running on.
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