The midrange smartphone market seems to be on the rise lately as flagship smartphones keep on getting out of reach due to its absurd prices. And last year, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 710 was at the center of it — providing good performance for its price. Today, the company has finally announced its successor in the form of Snapdragon 712.
Just from the numbering scheme itself, it doesn’t look much of a generational upgrade. It’s more like of a refresh in which it actually is. But first, let’s see the spec comparison chart between the Snapdragon 710 and the 712.
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Snapdragon 710 vs Snapdragon 712 Specs Comparison – CPU, GPU, AI
| Specs | Snapdragon 710 | Snapdragon 712 |
| Process (node) | 10nm | 10nm |
| CPU | 8 x Qualcomm Kryo 360 CPU, up to 2.2 GHz | 8 x Qualcomm Kryo 360 CPU, up to 2.3 GHz |
| GPU | Qualcomm® Adreno™ 616 GPU | Qualcomm® Adreno™ 616 GPU |
| RAM | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| NPU | Single NPU | Single NPU |
| DSP | Hexagon 685 Vector | Hexagon 685 Vector |
| Image Signal Processor (ISP) | Qualcomm Spectra™ 250 image signal processor (Up to 20 MP dual camera, Up to 32 MP single camera) | Qualcomm Spectra™ 250 image signal processor (Up to 20 MP dual camera, Up to 32 MP single camera) |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Charging | Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 4 technology | Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 4+ technology |
| Modem | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X15 LTE modem, up to 800Mbps (DL) / 150Mbps (UL) | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X15 LTE modem, up to 800Mbps (DL) / 150Mbps (UL) |
| Video Recording | 4k@30fps | 4K @ 30fps, up to 10-bit color depth |
| Display | 4K UHD | up to 4K UHD |
Pretty much, everything is the same if not close. But the adjustment from 2.2Ghz to 2.3Ghz promises up to 10 percent performance boost. On the graphics performance and power efficiency side, it’s claimed that there’s up to 35 percent of improvement. Qualcomm even went as far as saying “performance boost … in gaming and beyond”. If we’re talking about graphics-intensive games like PUBG and Fortnite Mobile, every fps count should be important. Amongst the similarities, the biggest improvement here could be the Quick Charge 4+ technology. The company is claiming to top up devices from zero to 50 percent in just 15mins.
As for the cameras, its Spectra 250 ISP now supports 10-bit color display and capture for better overall image quality. Your still-photos are also expected to come out slightly better with its multi-frame reduction or improved HDR, basically. And, of course, it’s not a 2019 mobile processor if it doesn’t have improved AI in which boosts foreground lighting when shooting in low light situations.
Read: Redmi launching Snapdragon 855-powered phone for $360 price
Which is the better midrange processor?
Comparing the Snapdragon 712 the 710, it’s technically a very slight improvement in selected areas. There might be a boost in performance but it’s so small that it can only be seen when pushing your phone to its limits like playing games at an extended period. We just hope that this very slight boost won’t affect the price by that much, too.
