Qualcomm is quite a name in the mobile space: the company is known for its applications processors that allow you to have the fluid experience on smartphones you crave. The company hasn’t always had smooth sailing (as the new and upcoming Snapdragon 820 processor for the Galaxy S7 is making up for the failure of the octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor), but Qualcomm has a presence in the industry that isn’t going away anytime soon.
With that said, though, we can’t forget that wearables are now taking off in the mobile space and are rising in gadget adoption, so Qualcomm doesn’t want to get left behind in the wrist wearables space. To this end, the applications processor maker has announced the arrival of the Snapdragon Wear 2100.
The Snapdragon Wear 2100 is said to be 30% smaller than the previous Snapdragon 400 (used in virtually all Android Wear smartwatches, Motorola’s first-gen. Moto 360 being the exception with its TI OMAP processor) and 25% more power efficient than the Snapdragon 400. With a smaller processor, smartwatches and fitness trackers can become thinner and lighter, making them more comfortable for wrist action. The 25% increase in power efficiency means that your battery life will get some relief, with power efficiency adding to an overall increase in battery life and endurance. Greater battery endurance equals more time with the gadgets you love.
Finally, LG is named as the manufacturer who will implement the new Snapdragon Wear 2100 in its upcoming devices. “LG and Qualcomm Technologies have led the wearable technology space with close collaboration over the last two years and have launched multiple smartwatches and kid watches. We are delighted about Qualcomm Technologies’ next-generation wearable plans, are planning to extend our collaboration with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, and look forward to launching new smartwatches and other wearable devices that bring new and innovative use cases to consumers later this year,” said LG Wearables VP David Yoon.
LG and Qualcomm have partnered together in recent days, with the LG G2 being the first smartphone in the world to feature the Snapdragon 800 processor. The LG G Flex 2 was one of the first smartphones worldwide to feature Qualcomm’s controversial, octa-core Snapdragon 810, and the company ditched it in its flagship G4 and opted for a hexa-core, Snapdragon 808 processor instead.
LG has created a number of smartwatches in Android Wear: the G Watch, G Watch R, the first Android Wear smartwatch to feature a plastic OLED (or P-OLED) display, the gender-neutral Watch Urbane (first and second-generations), and the failed Watch Urbane LTE Second Edition (recalled due to hardware issues). LG’s upcoming smartwatch will feature the new Snapdragon Wear 2100, but the company’s upcoming G5 smartphone will feature the Snapdragon 820 processor – showing just how committed LG is to Qualcomm and its processors in both the smartwatch and smartphone markets.
