Wearables are so ubiquitous these days. If you go outside, you will probably see quite a lot of people wearing one. According to Business Wire, the smart wearables market is expected to reach $31.95 billion in 2026. With the announcement of the new SoC from Qualcomm, a new generation of wearables are about to get a big upgrade.
Qualcomm has unveiled the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 and W5+ Gen 1 as the successors of the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ platform. Both SoCs, which are constructed using the 4nm process, vastly improve Qualcomm’s wearable products.
In comparison to the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ Platform, the company boasts that its new wearable chipsets would deliver up to 2X the performance while consuming half the power. The W5+ can offer up to 50% more battery life in typical situations while taking up 30% less space than earlier models. For the past few quarters, Qualcomm and Google have collaborated intensively to make Wear OS suitable for the new SoC.
The absence of the AON Co-Processor in the non-Plus versions of the Snapdragon W5 and W5+ Gen 1 is the primary distinction between the two models. Since these wearables won’t need additional power-saving features, manufacturers can outfit them with the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1. This covers accessories for the China, Kids, Seniors, Health, and Business markets.
Four Cortex A53 cores and one Cortex M55 efficiency core, both running at 250 MHz, make up the W5+ Gen 1 processor. The A702 GPU, clocked at 1 GHz (a major increase from the 4100+’s 320 MHz A504 GPU), handles graphics, and memory has been enhanced to enable LPDDR4 at 2133 MHz. There has also been a new Machine Learning unit, U55, in the chip now which was absent in the 4100+.
The new co-processor in the W5+ can manage more background operations while consuming less power. The W5+ Gen 1’s 22nm AON (always on) Co-Processor is now capable of handling speech processing, audio playback, and notifications in addition to handling all of the wearable’s sensors. Additionally, the AON chip adds support for new power modes including Deep Sleep and Hibernate and enables low-power Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, GNSS, and other connectivities. Additionally, LTE will have a low-power mode with an upgraded modem.
In order to help partners develop products more quickly, Qualcomm announces that it has teamed up with Compel and Pegatron to produce reference smartwatches with the Snapdragon W5+ on board.
The first OEMs to introduce wearables using Qualcomm’s new SoC will be Mobvoi and Oppo, and the chipmaker claims 25 smartwatch designs are presently under development. Oppo is anticipated to announce the Oppo Watch 3 sometime in August.
What do you think about the new SoC? Are you looking forward to getting a new wearable powered by W5 Gen 1?
