# Qualcomm Announces S4 Play MSM8x26



## coderunknown (Dec 6, 2012)

Finally Qualcomm has announced the newest members of the S4 Play chipset family named MSM8x26. And before you get excited it isn't based on Qualcomm Krait rather it packs a bunch of (4 nos) ARM Cortex A7 cores. A7 is designed to replace the ageing ARM Cortex A8 but while using lot less power (A7 is designed to be power efficient) and will be manufactured on the 28nm node. Best of all, the new chipset will use the Adreno 305 GPU (found in S4 Plus) which means 1080p decoding and maybe even capture but that depends upon the mobile manufacturer. I'll also support 720p display which i guess will become a common trend by that time.

Currently aimed only at the Chinese market but as all Indian mobile brands are based on random Chinese models, we'll see quadcore S4 Play (again, don't confuse S4 Play with S4 Plus/Pro/Prime. those are leagues ahead) based mobiles by Q4 2013 with the chipset itself being available by Q2 2013. And as most of you may have guessed, mobiles powered by quadcore S4 is still a year away. And there is one company that want the whole lowend Android SoC market for itself: Mediatek. Mediatek recently announced the MT6589 which pairs 4 ARM Cortex A7 (just like Qualcomm) and is manufactured in the 28nm node much like MSM8x26 while offering the PowerVR SGX 544 GPU. And unlike Qualcomm, mobiles powered by this SoC will be available by Q1 2013.

Source: Anandtech7 || Qualcomm


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## sukesh1090 (Dec 6, 2012)

thanks for the info bro.are those mediatek soc are good performers  because i have seen some oof their dual core performing worst than qualcom's single core.i maqy be wrong though.


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## coderunknown (Dec 6, 2012)

most of mediatek soc end up in mobiles like Micromax, Karbonn & Spice. no bug fixes, no updates, no R&D how can one expect better performance. moreover heard that mediatek have not released the display driver component so no custom rom either.


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## sukesh1090 (Dec 6, 2012)

^^
yes the drivers and not to be able to develop custom ROMS is a big disadvantage but always we have to loose something to gain something.


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## 101gamzer (Dec 6, 2012)

So this chip is way better than Qualcomm Snapdragon which says it its best all in one Processor ?


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## coderunknown (Dec 6, 2012)

sukesh1090 said:


> ^^
> yes the drivers and not to be able to develop custom ROMS is a big disadvantage but always we have to loose something to gain something.



unless some big player (heard Sony will develop cheap quadcore powered mobiles) picks up Mediatek's SoC lineup and release the source, its useless to even expect any custom rom other than the ones based on official stock rom without bloatwares.



101gamzer said:


> So this chip is way better than Qualcomm Snapdragon which says it its best all in one Processor ?



snapdragon is the name for the chipset. whats ticking inside matters the most. currently most budget mobiles powered by Qualcomm chipset (even S4 Play dual core) has the Cortex A5 core which is plain slow and so is the GPU. can't even decode 720p video. This new one can decode 1080p video which is a big win but sadly it'll come way too late.


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## sukesh1090 (Dec 6, 2012)

^^
what might be the cost of the mobile featuring it.any ideas?

^^
what might be the cost of the mobile featuring it.any ideas?


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## coderunknown (Dec 7, 2012)

sukesh1090 said:


> ^^
> what might be the cost of the mobile featuring it.any ideas?



my safe guess, 10k with at most going to 15k with HD display.


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## gameranand (Dec 12, 2012)

Quite affordable if it released at that price.


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## coderunknown (Dec 12, 2012)

Allwinner has jumped the gun too. Allwinner throws A20 dual-core and A31-quad-core processors into ARM fray. Funbook 2 or maybe some desi mobile will ship with one.


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