The Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 wearable platform, which includes two chips—a Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2 model with an extra co-processor and a non-plus model that recently made its debut on the Google Pixel Watch 4—was formally unveiled by Qualcomm.
The new wearable SoC has the same quad-core CPU with four Cortex-A53 cores as its predecessor from three years ago and is still constructed using the same 4nm manufacturing process.
However, the new SoC offers significant improvements in connectivity. Narrowband Non-Terrestrial Network, or NB-NTN, is now supported, enabling connections even in the absence of a cellular connection. If you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere and don’t even have your phone with you, it’s made to help you find help in rural areas.
Additionally, Qualcomm’s Location Machine Learning 3.0 improves GPS positioning accuracy by 50%. Benefits are most noticeable in crowded urban settings.
In the realm of smart wearables, the modem’s 20% smaller size and 20% lower power consumption are noteworthy advancements.
Lastly, a 22nm node-based co-processor is added in the Plus variant to handle critical tasks while the main SoC shuts down and conserves power.
