{"id":19359,"date":"2022-07-19T18:01:41","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T18:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/qualcomm-launches-snapdragon-wear-5-plus-to-give-wear-os-watches-a-boost\/"},"modified":"2022-07-19T18:01:41","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T18:01:41","slug":"qualcomm-launches-snapdragon-wear-5-plus-to-give-wear-os-watches-a-boost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/qualcomm-launches-snapdragon-wear-5-plus-to-give-wear-os-watches-a-boost\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualcomm launches Snapdragon Wear 5 Plus to give Wear OS watches a boost"},"content":{"rendered":"
While Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear chips power the vast majority of current Wear OS watches, the platform itself has never really delivered. Thus far, Snapdragon Wear chips have been repurposed mobile processor designs built on outdated tech and are a big reason why Wear OS watches have been so lackluster. But today, Qualcomm is launching an overhauled wearables platform called Snapdragon W5 Plus and W5. And this time, it seems like Qualcomm means business. <\/p>\n
For starters, the company is ditching the Snapdragon Wear branding. That might seem irrelevant, but <\/strong>it’s more like a symbolic fresh slate. Instead, the new W5 Plus and W5 chips will be folded under the main Snapdragon umbrella. The W5 Plus is envisioned for premium smartwatches, while the W5 is meant for simpler devices like smartwatches for kids, fitness trackers, and enterprise devices. And, according to Qualcomm’s global head of smart wearables, Pankaj Kedia, both chips are specifically built for wearable devices. As in, they’re not repurposed smartphone chips. <\/p>\n Spec-wise, the platform keeps the hybrid architecture featured in the Snapdragon Wear 3100 and 4100 chips. There’s the main processor for interactive tasks and an always-on coprocessor to help conserve battery. For the W5 Plus, Qualcomm is making a huge leap from 12nm to 4nm on the main chip and from 28nm to 22nm on the coprocessor. For context, Samsung’s Exynos W920, which powers the Galaxy Watch 4, uses 5nm process tech. Apple’s S7 chip for the Apple Watch Series 7 uses a 7nm process. This isn’t to say the W5 Plus is automatically better because it’s on 4nm \u2014 it’s more that Qualcomm is finally using current<\/em> process tech like its peers.<\/p>\n