Qualcomm has staked all its chips on adopting 5G Worldwide. Not only the flagship Snapdragon 865, but also the 765G-enabled mid-range Snapdragon 5 chipset that debuted alongside it cemented its commitment to this networking technology. Today, Qualcomm has taken another crucial step, with the launch of the Snapdragon 690 5G mobile platform, to expand 5G adoption globally.
Now, due to a lack of active 5G networks in some parts of the world, there is still an air of uncertainty surrounding the launch of phones powered by Qualcomm's mid-range 5G chipsets. However, we thought it would be a good idea to see how the new Snapdragon 690 5G compares to the Snapdragon 765 5G, its big brother.
We will take a close look at the specifications of the Snapdragon 690 5G vs Snapdragon 765 5G:
Snapdragon 690 5G vs Snapdragon 765 5G: How do they compare on paper?
Snapdragon 690 5G is an octa-core chipset based on a new Kryo 560 CPU. This is the second chipset in Qualcomm's portfolio to use the new Cortex-A77 cores and brand Kryo 500 series. It includes two Cortex-A77 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and six Cortex-A56 cores clocked at 1.7GHz.
Snapdragon 765, on the other hand, is an octa-core chipset with Qualcomm Kryo 475 CPU clocked at up to 2.4GHz. This includes a Cortex-A76 main core clocked at 2.4GHz, a Cortex-A76 Gold core clocked at 2.2GHz, and six Cortex-A55 Silver cores clocked at 1.8GHz.
Another big difference between the Snapdragon 690 and Snapdragon 765 is that the former is based on 8nm process technology compared to 7nm EuV process technology in the latter. This means that the 5-series 7G chipset is more energy efficient than the 5-series 6G chipset.
Gaming on mobile phones is one of the many things buyers today consider before finalizing a purchase, and you should get pretty good gaming performance from both Snapdragon 690 and Snapdragon 765.
While the Snapdragon 765 features the Adreno 620 GPU, you do get the Adreno 619L GPU on board the Snapdragon 690 chipset. Qualcomm claims that you will get Up to 60% faster graphics rendering compared to its predecessor, the Adreno 612 GPU found aboard the Snapdragon 675. This GPU should offer some minor gains over the Adreno 618 GPU found aboard the Snapdragon 730G and still sits below the Adreno 620 GPU of the Snapdragon 765.
5G technology is the common denominator here, but there is one key difference that sets these two chipsets apart. Snapdragon 690 includes Snapdragon X51 modem while Snapdragon 765 comes equipped with Snapdragon X52 modem.
The Snapdragon 765 supports sub-6GHz and high-frequency mmWave networks, while the Snapdragon 690 only supports sub-6GHz 5G networks. This means mid-range 5G smartphones running the latter won't be compatible with Verizon and AT&T's high-speed mmWave networks.
This is also why the download and upload speeds for the Snapdragon 690 are capped at 2.5Gbps and 660Mbps respectively. Its download speed is 3.7Gbps and upload speeds up to 1.6Gbps for the Snapdragon 765 chipset. The rest of the features remain the same across the board, including support for standard (SA) and non-standard (NSA) networks. ).
ISP (Image Signal Processor)
Both the Snapdragon 690 and Snapdragon 765 chipset come equipped with basically the same ISP. The latter includes the Spectra 355 ISP while the former features a lite version of said ISP – Spectra 355L ISP. It's a 14-bit dual ISP that supports up to 4K HDR video recording (another first for the Snapdragon 6 series), 192MP photo capture, and portrait video.
The only difference we see in the datasheet for both chipsets is that the Snapdragon 690 5G supports slow-motion video capture at 720p @ 240FPS. Snapdragon 765 5G SoC supports slow-motion video capture at up to 720p @ 480FPS. Not only that, it supports HDR10+ video capture, along with artificial intelligence like real-time object classification, segmentation, and replacement.
We decided to include the display section here so you know the highest resolution and refresh rates supported by any of the chipsets.
Snapdragon 690 5G supports screens up to Full-HD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. Its big brother, on the other hand, supports QHD+ displays at 60Hz and Full-HD+ displays at up to 120Hz. This means that phone makers can choose, if they wish, to offer even higher resolution on board their mid-range offerings.
Apart from this, according to the official data sheet, both 5G-enabled chipsets support HDR10+ and 10-bit color depth. Ultimately, it is up to the phone manufacturers to offer such features to users.
Qualcomm has made considerable leaps in the AI section over the years. Its first mid-range 5G chipset came with a 5th generation Qualcomm AI engine with but also 5.5 TOPS AI performance. The Snapdragon 690 5G chipset adds another first to its name by also featuring the 5th generation Qualcomm AI engine.
The Snapdragon 690 packs the same Hexagon 692 DSP, which is the same one found on board last year's Snapdragon 730G. This means we can expect pretty decent AI performance across the board, but the Hexagon 696 on board the Snapdragon 765 will give you slightly better AI performance, overall.
Both the Snapdragon 690 and Snapdragon 765 offer almost the same connectivity options, except for the 5G modems that we have mentioned above.
Both chipsets are ready for WiFi 6 (802.11ax-ready) and supports dual-band WiFi out of the box. There's a bit of a difference on the Bluetooth connectivity front, with the new Snapdragon 690 supporting Bluetooth 5.1 over Bluetooth 5.0 supporting the Snapdragon 765.
Snapdragon 690 5G vs Snapdragon 765 5G: Spec Sheet
| Snapdragon 690 | Snapdragon 765 | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU Core | octa-core, Kryo 560 | octa-core, Kryo 475 |
| CPU architecture | 2x 2.0GHz (Cortex-A77) 6x 1.7GHz (Cortex-A56) |
1x 2.4GHz (Cortex-A76) 1x 2.2GHz (Cortex-A76) 6x 1.8GHz (Cortex-A55) |
| CPU clock speed | up to 2.0GHz | up to 2.4GHz |
| Technological process | 8nm | 7nm EUV |
| GPU | Adreno 619l | Adreno 620 |
| RAM | Up to 8GB of 4MHz LPDDR1866x RAM | Up to 12GB of 4MHz LPDDR2133x RAM |
| 5G modem | Snapdragon X51 | Snapdragon X52 |
| Machine learning and AI | Hex 692 | Hexagon 696 |
| ISP | Dual Spectra 355L 14-bit | Dual Spectra 355 14-bit |
| Chamber capacity | Capture photos up to 192 MP, Dual camera up to 32 + 16 MP |
Capture photos up to 192 MP, Dual camera up to 22 MP |
| video capacity | Video capture up to 4K HDR @ 30FPS, 720p@240FPS slow motion videos |
Up to 4K HDR + 30 FPS video capture, 720p@480FPS slow motion videos |
| Quick charge | Quick Charge 4+ | Quick Charge 4+ |
| Connectivity | WiFi 6 ready, Bluetooth 5.1 |
WiFi 6 ready, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| NavIC Support | si | si |
Snapdragon 690 5G vs Snapdragon 765 5G: The rise of affordable 5G phones
Qualcomm made it possible for phone makers to bring 5G phones to market with the Snapdragon 765 SoC earlier this year. Since then, it has introduced an update to this chipset in the form of the Snapdragon 768. Now, however, the American chipmaker has decided to make 5G technology widely available and accessible to all users globally by launching of the first 6 series Snapdragon 6G enabled. chipset
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 will make phones with 5G support quite affordable for anyone who wants a taste of the high-speed network. It's not too far from its 5G-backed big brother and should bring great performance, AI capabilities and camera features. We are eagerly awaiting to get our hands on the first Snapdragon 690 SoC phone in the coming months.