Qualcomm code hints at new Snapdragon Wear 5100 SoC, faster Wear OS smartwatches on the horizon

Qualcomm hasn’t exactly been bending over backwards with its Snapdragon Wear-branded SoCs -- certainly not in the same way that it has been focused on improving the performance of its smartphone SoCs. This is perhaps understandable given that Android-based smartwatches haven’t exactly set the world on fire in terms of sales. This looks like it could be set to change, however, following an analysis of new Qualcomm code uncovered by XDA Developers.

In particular, a new code with the build ID “LAW.UM.2.0-00700-SW5100.0” points to the Snapdragon Wear 5100 at the end. The chip is also referred to by the code name ‘monaco’, which, according to XDA Developers, is based on Qualcomm’s existing ‘bengal’ platform. Qualcomm’s mid and low end Snapdragon 662 and 460 platforms comprise its ‘bengal’ family of smartphone SoCs. The good news is that this should mean that instead of being based on the high-efficiency Arm Cortex-A53 cores as the Snapdragon Wear 4100 SoC, the new 5100 SoC should be based on the higher performance Arm Cortex-A73 cores.

Given all we have seen from the past two iterations of Snapdragon Wear SoC’s from Qualcomm have been improvements in efficiency, the new Snapdragon Wear 5100 should deliver a decent performance boost. While it is unlikely to match the Apple S6 SoC found in the Apple Watch Series 6, it should deliver noticeably smoother overall performance. Coupled with the soon to launch Google and Samsung developed Wear OS 3, 2021 is looking promising for fans of Android-based smartwatches. No news yet on which smartwatch will be the first to debut the Snapdragon Wear 5100 but announcements shouldn’t be too far away.

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