Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – An Incredible Generation Gap!

Two days back, Qualcomm announced three new SoCs. Among them, the new Snapdragon 460 turns out to be a game-changer for the budget-friendly smartphones. It has the same GPU as SD 665 and the CPU performance is almost 70% more than the previous generation which is Snapdragon 450. It’s for the first time that we are seeing such a drastic improvement apart from Qualcomm’s 30% to 50% improvement between to generations. Previously, we did a comparison of Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 625. Let’s see how the new low-end SoC performs against its ancestor Snapdragon 450 in this Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 comparison:

Also Read: List of Snapdragon 460 Phones To Release in 2020 | Rumored

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – Specs Sheet Comparison

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – Release Date Comparison

Snapdragon 460 is the first low-end SoC released from Qualcomm this year (January 20). Since this is an era of AI, thus we see AI engine hitting the low-end category as well with the release of SD 460 along with WiFi 6, dual-frequency GNSS, and single-camera support up to 48MP. Such features are seen the first time in the SD 4-series.

Meanwhile, Snapdragon 450 is relatively an old SoC released on June 28, 2017. Back then, the integrated X9 LTE modem and use of QC 3.0 were the highlights. The Snapdragon strikes a resemblance to Snapdragon 625 having the same GPU, DSP, ISP, and even the eight Cortex A53 but with slightly different frequencies.

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – Process Comparison

Snapdragon 460 because of its recent release features a much better Samsung 11nm process. We already know that budget-friendly smartphones featuring low-end SoCs have incredible battery life. However, with the much advance process in comparison to its previous generation, the battery saving has been increased with 2x the overall performance. Qualcomm hasn’t made clear whether it’s LPP or FinFET. Judging their other SoCs based on 11nm process (SD 665 and 675), it might be LPP or a simple 11nm just like SD 662.

Snapdragon 450 because of releasing in mid-2017, almost 3 years back, is based on the 14nm LPP process similar to SD 625, SD 630, and SD 636.

Winner: Snapdragon 460

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – CPU Comparison

Previous SoCs from Snapdragon 4-series featured default ARM CPU configuration. However, that’s not the case with Snapdragon 460 as it proudly boasts about the customized Kryo 240 CPU configuration which is a game-changer. It’s an octa-core configuration but this time instead of all low-end cores we have a dual-cluster arrangement (4 + 4). SD 460 has four Cortex-A73 cores running @1.8GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores with an unknown frequency. We should also note that it’s also the first in the 4xx-series to support LPDDR3 up to 933 MHz and LPDDR4X up to 1866 MHz.

Cortex A73 might be an old core and considered mid-end core if we were back in 2018 but after the arrival of Cortex A76 and A77, the performance can be considered as low-end in 2020 but still much better than those Cortex A53 SoCs. Yes, I mean the SD 625, 626, 630 and all the previous SoCs from 4xx-series.

On the other hand, Snapdragon 450 has a single cluster design with the eight cores being Cortex A53 running at @1.8GHz.

Thus, thanks to the introduction of Cortex-A73 which might be an old core but still much better than A53 core and the use of 11nm process, we witness an improvement of 70% increase in performance over the previous Snapdragon 450.

Winner: Snapdragon 460

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – GPU Comparison

Moving to the GPU section, a much greater improvement is seen because Snapdragon 460 features Adreno 610 the same as from Snapdragon 665. Remember similar to the Cortex A73 use in CPU, the Adreno 610 is from 6xx series of Adreno GPU which is used in mid-end SoCs (6xx-series). However, this is the first time that we witness a GPU used in the 4xx series from the 6xx series. This enables the low-end smartphone users to enjoy the same gaming experience as they do on the Snapdragon 665 and other mid-end phones.

Snapdragon 450 uses Adreno 506 running @600 MHz. Adreno 5xx series is used in the low-end Qualcomm SoCs and the SD 450 here is no exception, only suited for casual gaming and light work with high power efficiency. Here’s the 3DMark benchmark difference between both GPUs.

Comparing both GPUs, Adreno 610 is definitely on the upper hand because we witness the performance of the mid-end GPU from this low-end SoC. The GPU performance is 60% better than the 2 years old SD 450 which used a much older Adreno 506 running at 600 MHz.

Winner: Snapdragon 460

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – AnTuTu Comparison

Snapdragon 450 has an AnTuTu score of around 56,883 points on Xiaomi Redmi 5. It’s ahead of SD 430 and 435 but behind SD 439 and MTK Helio P22.

Meanwhile, the AnTuTu score of Snapdragon 460 has not been released. We expect it to be around 140,000 to 165,000 points because of the Cortex A73 core, Adreno 610, and 11nm process which has a great resemblance to SD 665 which has an AnTuTu score of 170,000+ points.

Winner: Snapdragon 460

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – AI Comparison

For the first time, Qualcomm introduces AI smart learning to the low-end category. Snapdragon 460 runs on AI Engine 3.0 of Qualcomm along with the Hexagon 683 as the DSP. It’s not as powerful as from SD 7 series but at least AI is enabled on such low-cost devices from now on. This means that we can see AI battery optimization, AI camera shot, and AI smart management on devices around $100 to $150.

Snapdragon 450 has Hexagon 680 as the DSP which is the same as SD 625. However, there are no AI capabilities or even an NPE for faster processing.

Winner: Snapdragon 460

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – Connectivity Comparison

2020 is the year when 5G will start commercializing. However, sadly, we don’t have that much 5G supported phones in the market. Leave the low-end and mid-end smartphones for now, because we don’t even have enough 5G phones in the upper mid-end and high-end category. If there are some then they are much expensive than the 4G variants. Thus, for a low-end SoC releasing at the start of 2020, we don’t witness 5G network support in Snapdragon 460. It’s fine because 5G isn’t widespread till now and the low-end phones don’t even need one in 2020 because of their price difference.

So, we have an X11 LTE modem in SD 460 with download up to 390 Mbit/s and upload up to 150 Mbit/s. For a low-end X11 LTE modem is fine given the fact that SD 450 had its previous generation which was X9 LTE. Though, I would have appreciated X12 LTE modem which has double the download speed (600 Mbit/s). Moreover, though the modem isn’t that much of the highlight, other connectivity features are which includes the use of first-ever WiFi 6 standard support, FastConnect 6100, NAVIC, and dual-frequency GNSS for better GPS position.

Snapdragon 360 uses the X9 LTE modem with download up to 300 Mbit/s and upload up to 150 Mbit/s. It’s nothing to brag about since we only witness SD 460 moving to X11 LTE which is the successor of X9 LTE but over a long 3-year period. It should have been X12 LTE which had double downloading speed.

Winner: Snapdragon 460

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – Camera/ISP Comparison

Talking about the ISP, SD 450 has Spectra ISP along with Dual ISPs supporting dual camera up to 13MP and a single camera up to 21MP along with video recording up to Full-HD. Meanwhile, SD 460 has Spectra 340 which is one of the latest ISPs before Spectra 380 and 480. It’s even better than most ISPs from 6xx-series and even 7xx-series. Why? Because it has single camera support up to 48MP and dual camera support up to 16MP. Though the pixel count is similar to SD 660’s Spectra 160 but it has better low-light capturing speed and better results.

Winner: Snapdragon 460

Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – Price Comparison

Since Snapdragon 460 is a low-end SoC it will be featured inside upcoming phones such as Redmi 9, Realme C3 and so on. So, the phone bearing this SoC will be priced around $100 to $150 and even $200 depending on the brand and other features of the phone. The news hints that the SoC will be available in late 2020. But I believe that we might see at least one phone featuring it in mid-2020.

Meanwhile, Snapdragon 450 at the time of its use in Redmi 5 and other phones were priced around $110 to $170 again depending on the brand. Samsung Galaxy A20s is selling since Sept 2019 for $168 which is the highest price for a Snapdragon 450 phone. Meanwhile, you can get a price below $100 as well if you go for Redmi 5 which of course will be in used condition since it’s a 2.5-year-old phone. We don’t know if how much the SD 460 phones will cost, but the performance/price ratio will be much better than SD450.

Winner: Snapdragon 460

Our Verdict

Ending this Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 SoCs comparison, to be honest, the 3-year gap between both these SoCs marks the pace of progress moving from 14nm to 11nm, Adreno 506 to Adreno 610 in the low-end category. Snapdragon 460 is clearly the winner here because of a much better process, better GPU performance, better CPU, AI-enabled, better DSP and ISP, and advanced connectivity features such as WiFi 6. The technology gap between these two generations is astounding because of the large time period.

Qualcomm smartly utilizes old but mid-end GPU and Cortex A73 CPU from the 6 series and merges them with the 11nm process and AI engine for the best low-end SoC to date.

Snapdragon 460 (8 points), Snapdragon 660 (0 points)

Overall Winner: Snapdragon 460

We hoped you loved our Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 SoCs comparison. Want to know anything about these SoCs? Let us know in the comments. Plus, don’t forget to rate the comparison down below.

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Snapdragon 460 vs Snapdragon 450 – An Incredible Generation Gap!

Summary

Snapdragon 460 is clearly the winner here because of a much better process, better GPU performance, better CPU, AI-enabled, better DSP and ISP, and advanced connectivity features such as WiFi 6. The technology gap between these two generations is astounding because of the large time period.

Reader Rating3 Votes

7.5

SD 460 Over SD 450

Better CPU (Kryo 240, 70% increase)

Better GPU (Adreno 60, 60% increase)

AI capabilities (Hexagon 683)

Better Connectivity (X11 modem, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.1)

11nm Process

Better Performance/price ratio

SD 450 vs SD 460

None

8

Total Rating