Qualcomm recently announced the Snapdragon 636 Mobile Platform and many upcoming midrange devices will be running on the same. It is quite similar to the Snapdragon 660 but has a few minor changes in the form of GPU, CPU Clock speeds, and RAM Frequency.

This processor is very popular due to the fact that it may not cost as high for the OEMs as the SD 660 because the CPU has a lower frequency. I’m expecting a lot of phones from brands like Xiaomi, Motorola, Lenovo, LG, and Nokia that will be powered by this processor. On 14th February 2018, Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 5 Pro which is powered by this chip. Also, the new Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 and the Moto Z3 Play are powered by this Processor.

It is significantly powerful than the Snapdragon 630 and 625 due to the extremely powerful Kryo 260 Cores. The Kryo 260 cores are in fact a combination of 4 semi-custom Cortex-A73 cores and 4 semi-custom Cortex-A53 cores.

The Kryo 260 packs a lot more power than the ARM Cortex-A72 cores of processors like Snapdragon 650, 652, and 653. Also, it is manufactured using the power-efficient 14nm Process. So, we can guess that its performance is better than that of Snapdragon 630, 625, 653, 652, and 650. In fact, it is so good that I couldn’t find a single disadvantage for writing down below.

Pros High Performance

High Performance Battery Efficient

Battery Efficient Fast Modem

Fast Modem Great for Gaming Cons None

Specification

Name Snapdragon 636 Codename SDM636 Brand Qualcomm No. of Cores 8 Core Configuration 8x Kryo 260 @ 1.8 GHz Fabrication Technique 14nm Graphics Processor Adreno 509 RAM Dual-Channel LPDDR4/4X Max RAM 8GB RAM Frequency 1333 MHz Fast Charging Yes, Quick Charge 4 DSP Hexagon 680 Max Resolution Full HD+ (18:9) Modem X12 LTE Max Download Speed 600 Mbps VoLTE Support Yes ISP Spectra 160 Max Camera 24MP Bluetooth Version 5 AI Support Yes via Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine

Qualcomm announced this chip on October 17th, 2017. The codename of this Mobile Platform is SDM636. It is an Octa-Core Processor with 8x Kryo 260 cores that can have a maximum clock frequency of 1.8 GHz. The Kryo 260 Cores deliver 40% higher performance than the ARM Cortex-A53 Cores of SD 630.

Qualcomm has used Samsung’s 14nm Fabrication technique for this chip and it has the new Adreno 509 GPU. Adreno 509 delivers better gaming performance than the previous generation Adreno 508 and 506.

It has a Dual-Channel LPDDR4/4X RAM and a device powered by this processor can have a maximum RAM of 8 GB. It supports Qualcomm QuickCharge 4 Technology which according to Qualcomm delivers up to five hours of battery life with just 5 minutes of charging. It supports Full HD+ Display Resolution for phones with an aspect ratio of 18:9.

The Qualcomm’s X12 LTE Modem can deliver download speeds up to 600 Mbps and upload speeds up to 150 Mbps with VoLTE support. It has Qualcomm’s Hexagon 680 Digital Signal Processor and the Spectra 160 Image Sensor Processor.

It also supports the latest Bluetooth 5 and the maximum camera can be of 24MP. Developers can optimize their apps using the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine that supports Caffe and TensorFlow. For more detailed specifications, visit Qualcomm‘s official website.

Snapdragon 636 Benchmarks

Here are the Antutu and Geekbench Scores of this chip.

Antutu Benchmark

The Antutu Benchmark score is over 110,000 points. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro gets a score of 113,004 points. That’s huge for a mid-range chipset! The Cortex-A73 based Kryo 260 cores surely pack a lot of power under the belt!

GeekBench Score

Once again, we have the benchmark score of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro on Geekbench 4. The Single-Core score of this SOC is 1,338, while the multi-core score is 4,864. Impressive, right?

Comparisons

Here are a few comparisons with other popular CPUs. You can also get the rankings of all Snapdragon Processors here: Snapdragon Processor Rankings.

vs Kirin 659

Kirin 659 has weaker CPU cores (Cortex-A53 Cores of Kirin 659 are a lot weaker than the Kryo 260 Cores based on ARM Cortex-A73 architecture). Also, the Memory, GPU, Power Efficiency, Modem and almost every other feature is better in 636. Also, check out the full comparison: SD 636 vs Kirin 659 vs Snapdraagon 630.

Winner Snapdragon 636

vs Snapdragon 625 and 630

SD 636 has a much faster CPU, GPU, RAM, Modem and many other better features. It is way ahead of Snapdragon 625 and 630.

Winner Snapdragon 636

These processors belongs to the Snapdragon 400 tier and their performance isn’t even as good as 625 or 630. To know more, check out this comparison: Snapdragon 435 vs 625.

Winner Snapdragon 636

vs Snapdragon 650 and 652

The SD 636 is more power efficient and has a faster CPU, Modem, and RAM as compared to 650 and 652.

Winner Snapdragon 636

vs Snapdragon 660

Both the processors have a similar specification but the Snapdragon 660 runs at a slightly higher CPU frequency and has a better GPU.

Winner Snapdragon 660

vs Snapdragon 821 and 835

Both SD 835 and 821 are flagships chips and they can outperform 636 in each and every aspect. Snapdragon 835 has the best CPU, GPU, and is manufactured using the best fabrication technique available as of now.

Winner Snapdragon 835

Review

As of now, no brand has annoucned a amartphone running on this processor. So, I’ve only one option is to give my opinion on the basis of specification and the performance of Snapdragon 660 (as both chips are quite similar).

Daily-Life Performance

The high-performance Kryo 260 cores can perform any intensive task you throw at it. The phone will run incredibly fast and you will not observe any lags whatsoever. Trust me, in general use, you will not be able to differentiate between its performance to that of a flagship device.

Gaming Performance

The Adreno 509 is the successor of Adreno 508 and 506. Both of these are excellent GPUs that are powerful enough to run every high-demanding game at 1080p at a high frame rate. So, obviously, I’ve had similar experience from the Adreno 509.

Power Efficiency

14nm Fabrication technology is extremely power efficient. This translates into better battery life and performance. Also, your smartphone will be less likely to heat while performing heavy tasks. There are many powerful processors like Snapdragon 810, 652, and 653 that suffer from this problem but SD 636 is not just powerful, it is extremely power efficient as well.

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Other SOC Features

There are many other features that we cannot ignore. The Dual-Channel LPDDR4 RAM and the X12 LTE Modem is a great addition. Also, it’s great to see that it supports new technologies like Bluetooth 5 and Qualcomm Quick Charge 4. Another great feature is the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine for enhancing the performance of applications with Artificial Intelligence.

Snapdragon 636 4.7

Frequently Asked Questions

Question: How good is Snapdragon 636?

Answer: Snapdragon 636 is a decent mid-range processor with flagship-grade features such a Qualcomm’s Custom Kryo Cores. It is a good choice for both basic use as well as gaming. It is also quite powered efficient due as it is fabricated using 14nm FinFET Process.

Question: Which is better Snapdragon 660 or 636?

Answer: Snapdragon 660 is better when compared to 636 because Snapdragon 660 has higher clock speeds and it has a faster GPU. Hence, it is a better choice for gaming and heavy usage.

Question: Which is better Snapdragon 630 or 636?

Answer: Snapdragon 636 is better than 630 because it has powerful Kryo 260 CPU Cores while 630 has the weaker Cortex-A53 cores. It also has a better GPU (Adreno 509) compared to Adreno 508 of 630.

Question: Which processor is best Snapdragon 636 vs 632?

Answer: Snapdragon 636 is the better processor of these two. Snapdragon 632 has weaker cores (Kryo 250) compared to the Kryo 260 of 636. Snapdragon 632 also has a weaker GPU (Adreno 506) while 636 has Adreno 509.

Question: Does Snapdragon 636 support 5g?

Answer: No, Snapdragon 636 does not support 5G. So far, the only Qualcomm SOCs support 5G are Snapdragon 855 and 855+.

Question: Is Snapdragon 636 support fast charging?

Answer: Yes, Snapdragon 636 supports fast charging with the help of Qualcomm Quick Charge 4 Technology. But it depends on the phone’s manufacturer whether they have provided this technology with the smartphone or not.

Final Suggestions

Snapdragon 636 is the perfect chip that I would wish to power a midrange phone. And very soon, we will start to see the launch of phones running on this chipset. As a smartphone lover, it is good to see flagship-grade performance and efficiency in mid-range devices. Every time before suggesting a product, I tell the customers to go with their priorities. But here in this case, if you’re buying a phone powered with this processor and the rest of the phone’s features are good enough, then choose it blindly.

List of Phones with this SOC: