Qualcomm upgrades smartwatch platform, announces Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor

Your smartwatch can’t really do much if it is not powered by a good chip. While the **Apple** watch has its own S-series processor, Qualcomm’s chips aid about 80 percent of the chips in WearOS devices. The most widely used Qualcomm chip right now is the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 which has been in the market since 2016, which is effectively more dated than the Snapdragon 400. This, however, is about to change now. [caption id=“attachment_5160201” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform. Image: Qualcomm Website[/caption] Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon Wear 3100 SoCs, which feature four A7 CPUs. The new SoCs are based on what Qualcomm calls the “new ultra-low power hierarchical system architecture.” In this system, the quad-core A7 processor, the integrated digital signal processor (DSP), and a co-processor work together. The processor supports extended battery life which results in improvements ranging from 4 to 12 hours as compared to the previous SDW2100 platform generation. The platform offers three modes that are intended to create a better experience for users. Each mode specifically caters to sports, fashion, and traditional use. The Ambient Mode is customized for fashion watches. The Sports Experiences is mode is dedicated for sports purposes with GPS and active heart rate monitoring. Finally, the Traditional Watch mode which makes the device feel like an analog watch. It is available in both connected (4G LTE) and tethered (Bluetooth and Wi-Fi) versions. Also announced are Qualcomm’s first Snapdragon Wear 3100 customers — Fossil Group, Louis Vuitton, and Montblanc. They are expected to begin rolling out in Q4 2018.