Adreno™ Graphics Processing Units

Graphic-intensive games, animations and apps have become an important part of mobile experiences. That’s why the all-in-one design of the Snapdragon processor includes the Qualcomm® Adreno™ graphics processing unit (GPU).

The Adreno GPU accelerates the rendering of complex geometries to deliver high-performance graphics and a rich user experience with low power consumption. If your users think your mobile UI, games and advanced graphics applications look good now, wait until they’ve seen them on the Snapdragon processor with the Adreno GPU.

See how you can improve graphics in your apps without trading off battery life by having a look at our videos on hardware and rendering with the Adreno GPU. Then start optimizing your graphics, gaming and heterogeneous computing applications with the Adreno GPU SDK.

Adreno 530 GPU

The Adreno 530 GPU is embedded into the Snapdragon 820 processor. Adreno 530 GPU offers:

  • In comparison with the predecessor Adreno 430 GPU*
    • Up to 50% better graphics performance
    • Up to 40% more power efficient
    • Up to 40% faster General-Purpose GPU (GPGPU) performance
  • Advanced API support, including OpenGL ES 3.2† to help enable more-complex and more-efficient mobile 3D graphics for apps and games.
  • A530 will be the first GPU to support new Vulkan API. Vulkan enables the next generation of graphics performance by adding multi-threaded command buffer generation and explicit control of advanced graphics capabilities within Snapdragon’s Adreno GPUs
  • Shared Virtual memory that enables simultaneous data sharing between the OpenCL host and the GPU.

Vulkan API Support
Qualcomm is on the Board of Promoters for Khronos Group. Its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI), has announced support for Vulkan™ starting with the Adreno 530 GPU in the Snapdragon 820 processor.

Qualcomm is also announcing upcoming support for Vulkan in QTI’s developer tools, including Snapdragon Profiler and the Adreno SDK. Qualcomm will also be releasing a community edition of user-mode Vulkan driver binaries for Adreno A4xx and A5xx GPUs† soon. You can use these tools with the Vulkan API as part of the process of optimizing your apps for commercial devices powered by the Snapdragon 820 processor.

Adreno 430 GPU

Adreno 430 GPU is embedded into the Snapdragon 810 processors and offers:

  • Support for console-quality graphics features – such as enhanced lighting and shading; realistic faces and animation; and deeper 3D detail through hardware tessellation and geometry shaders – at up to Ultra HD resolution
  • Up to 30% improvement in graphics performance over predecessor Adreno 420 GPU*
  • Up to 20% improvement in power efficiency over predecessor Adreno 420 GPU*
  • Up to 100% faster General-Purpose GPU (GPGPU) performance over predecessor Adreno 420 GPU
  • Dynamic hardware tessellation designed to support visually realistic scenes, with lower memory use and lower power consumption
  • Advanced API support, including OpenGL ES 3.2† and DirectX 11.2, to help enable more-complex and more-efficient mobile 3D graphics for apps and games
  • Support for new OpenGL ES 3.2* features like compute shaders
  • Support for the Android Extension Pack, which includes compute, tessellation and geometry shaders for compatibility with new gaming consoles and PCs.

Adreno GPU Family

AdrenoSnapdragon ChipsetAPIsSample of Commercial Devices
OpenGL ESOpen CLRenderScriptDirect X
200Snapdragon S11.x,
2.0
N/AYesFL9.3LG, Sony,HTC
203Snapdragon 200HTC Desire 516, LG W5, Sony Falcon DS
205Snapdragon S2HTC, Samsung
220Snapdragon S3HTC Droid DNA
225Snapdragon S4HTC Desire500, HTC Desire600, SamsungGT-i8550 Galaxy Win
302Snapdragon 2001.x,
2.0,
3.0
1.1 Embedded Profile9.3
305Snapdragon 400Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Sony,
305Snapdragon 400Samsung, HTC, Sony
306Snapdragon 410Samsung, HTC, Sony
320Snapdragon 600SamsungGS4, HTC One, LG G, Amazon Fire TV
330Snapdragon 800Samsung GS5, Sony Z2, LG G Pro2
330Snapdragon 801Sony Xperia Z2, HTC One M8, Gionee
330Snapdragon 610HTC, Samsung
405Snapdragon 6151.x,
2.0,
3.0,
3.1, CS, GS & TS
1.2 Full ProfileFL11.1HTC, Samsung
418Snapdragon 808
420Snapdragon 805Samsung S5, Pantech
430Snapdragon 810

1.x,
2.0,
3.0,
3.1†,
3.2†,
CS, GS & TS

 OnePlus 2, ZTE Axon Pro, HTC One M9, LG G Flex2
530Snapdragon 8201.x,
2.0,
3.0,
3.1†,
3.2†,
CS, GS & TS

Vulkan
2.0 Full ProfileYesTBDTBD

* Source: Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. data.

† Product is based on a published Khronos Specification, and is expected to pass the Khronos Conformance Testing Process when available.