Qualcomm's New Snapdragon Wear 3100 Platform Paves the Way for Improved Smartwatches

For quite some time, Qualcomm has been preparing and developing a new processor for smartwatches that includes a cellular connectivity option, which has now been released. Thus far, Google’s Wear OS smartwatch manufacturers have been using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset, which was released over two years ago in February 2016. In a long-overdue September 2018 event called “It’s time. Set your watches,” Qualcomm finally released its new Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset that comes in three variants targeting smartwatches with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Global Positional System (GPS), and 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution). The three variants ensure that a complete set of wearable devices can be developed, allowing for greater diversity within the smartwatch market. The Snapdragon Wear 3100 features an ultra-low power hierarchical system that aims to provide enhanced interactivity, new personalized experiences, and improved battery life—and the latter is said to have been extended by 4 to 12 hours (compared to the Snapdragon Wear 2100), depending on the display, battery capacity, and device type. The company has also developed a number of different modes which limit some functions to offer an even longer battery life. The platform can be paired with the Snapdragon X5 LTE modem, allowing it to offer 1 Gigabit per Second (Gbps) peak download speeds.

The Snapdragon Wear 2100 has proved to be a relatively successful processor that has a growing interest and functionality associated with wearables. Android devices have seen little improvement in terms of processing power, unlike those produced by Apple. Companies such as Fossil have used the Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset across multiple generations of wearables, despite the increasing features such as heart rate monitors and Near-Field Communications (NFC). While the old platform was up to the task, it compromised battery life. With more features expected to be added in the future, it is unlikely that devices without the new Wear 3100 chipset will be able to perform as well as desired for much longer, as the Wear 2100 is not powerful enough to cope and is not providing the required battery life.

Early in 2018, Qualcomm confirmed that work had begun on a new chipset for wearables. The Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset features high-performance quad core A7 processors, an efficient integrated Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and an ultra-low power coprocessor, all of which work together to improve the overall smartwatch experience. The Qualcomm QCC1110 coprocessor has been optimized for ultra-low power operation to improve audio, display, and sensors, while also providing a deep-learning engine for custom workloads. In addition, the PMW31000 wearable power management subsystem supports low power and high integration, providing a new DSP framework for sensor processing and an open execution environment as well as dual display architecture. Power consumption is reduced by 20 times compared to the Snapdragon Wear 2100. The 4G LTE variant is paired with high-performance Gallium Arsenide power amplifiers to increase power efficiency.

Qualcomm has been working with the Wear OS by the Google team to ensure that the new chipset works seamlessly with the operating system as well as providing enhanced interactivity, new personalized experiences, and improved battery life. The personalized experiences help to ensure that the device is optimized for the user at any specific time. The Enhanced Ambient Mode provides a fashion watch style experience, with a smooth second hand, 16 colors, and improved brightness. The Dedicated Sports Experience allows the user to go for numerous long-distance activities—such as marathons, swims, bike rides, and hikes—with GPS and heart-rate monitoring running continuously for up to 15 hours. The Traditional Watch Mode extends the battery life by providing a simple watch face, offering a battery life of around a week. These are the three personalized experiences that Qualcomm has announced that are available thus far, and the company has stated that it will deploy more over time. The company has not said whether or not users will be able to create their own experiences.

The Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform will likely become the standard on Wear OS smartwatches moving forward. Fossil, Louis Vuitton, and Montblanc have already been announced as the first customers of the new chipset; however, details on devices are currently limited, with only Montblanc currently having announced a new smartwatch. Montblanc’s new smartwatch, the Summit 2, will be the first device powered by the new platform and has been designed for travel, fitness, and exploration. The device will be available in October and will run on Wear OS.

It is also likely that Google’s rumored smartwatch, which could launch alongside its new Pixel 3 smartphones in October, will feature Snapdragon Wear 3100, as Google has been developing the platform in conjunction with Qualcomm. Huawei, which has previously used the Snapdragon Wear 2100, has also been in talks with Qualcomm for a new wearable chipset that is essential to increasing the battery life of smartwatches. This may hint at the company’s adoption of the Snapdragon Wear 3100 in the future. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 is reported to be shipping in over 100 different Wear OS smartwatches by 25 different brands, contributing to roughly 20% of the 30 million smartwatches shipped in 2017. It is likely that, over time, as Qualcomm updates their offerings, these vendors will look to adopt the new Snapdragon Wear 3100.

As noted previously, the Snapdragon Wear 3100 learns over time, offering a deep-learning engine for custom workloads, including keyword detection. The company has also mentioned that the announced features are only the beginning, suggesting that the chipset will be updated over time, similarly to the Snapdragon Wear 2100 but hopefully at a faster rate.

With major vendors such as Samsung continuing to use their own chips within their smartwatches and Apple using a number of its own components in line with Qualcomm’s modem, other smartwatch vendors looking to improve their offerings must consider integrating Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100in future devices. This is to ensure that the devices have the necessary processing power to support the increasing number of features that are required by consumers, including a smaller form factor requiring a longer battery life. If the new Qualcomm chipset or an alternative—such as those by MediaTek (which also offers cellular connectivity and long battery life options and powers smartwatches such as TicWatch)—are not adopted and battery life is not improved, then it is likely that consumers will abandon that particular brand and opt for a device that can provide the enhanced user experience the customer wants. The versatility of the platform—that is, the multiple variants of smartwatches supported with different connectivities—ensures that each device type can be catered to properly.