Processor chips might not be top of your list of things to get excited about, but anyone with a passing interest in phones should have their interest piqued by Intel’s latest Atom line-up.

They’re the dream combination of powerful and cheap, and heading straight to 2015’s smartphones. The Atom X3 should be making an appearance in phones around the R1,200 price point, bringing more power to the low-end party and possibly spelling big things for phone users in countries like South Africa. Stuff regulars will probably be more interested in the Atom X5 and X7 though – these are the chips heading for higher-end phones and tablets.

The X5 and X7 offer double the graphics power of their predecessors without using up any more battery and can support next-level features such as face recognition.

Acer, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Asus and Toshiba are all lined up to start using the chips in their upcoming Windows and Android devices, so expect to see them boosting power and keeping prices down in the first half of this year.