Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 QSD8250 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8226 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro MSM8960T

Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 QSD8250

The Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 QSD8250 was one of the first Snapdragon SoCs for smartphones and tablets featuring a Scorpion CPU core, an Adreno 200 GPU and GSM/UMTS radio.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8226

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8226 is an entry-level ARM-SoC for Android smartphones. It integrates four Cortex-A7 cores at up to 1.2 GHz (Quad-Core) and a Adreno 305 graphics card at 450 MHz. Furthermore, a HSPA+ radio, WLAN (b,g,n) and Bluetooth 4.0 are integrated in the SoC.

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro MSM8960T

The Qualcomm MSM8960T (Snapdragon S4 Pro) is a fast ARM SoC, which is mainly used in smartphones. It integrates a Krait-based dual-core processor and an Adreno 320 graphics card. Furthermore it features an integrated LPDDR2 memory controller (dual channel, max. 500 MHz) as well as various radio standards including LTE. The chip is fabricated at TSMC in a 28nm LP process.

Unlike older Qualcomm SoCs, which are still based on slower Scorpion cores, the MSM8960T uses the modern Krait architecture. The Krait design is significantly faster than the Cortex-A5, Cortex-A7 and Cortex-A9 architecture from ARM and just behind the high-end Cortex-A15. The two cores are clocked at 1.7 GHz and offer a performance, which is even above some older quad-cores like Nvidia's Tegra 3 or the Samsung Exynos 4412.

The Adreno 320 graphics card is the same as found in the Snapdragon 600 and one of the fastest mobile GPUs in mid-2013. The GPU is clocked at 400 MHz and offers enough performance for demanding games and high resolution screens.

Since the MSM8960T only has two CPU cores, the power consumption should be somewhat below quad-cores like the Snapdragon 600. The chip can therefore be used in compact smartphones with a smaller battery.