Qualcomm introduces flagship soc Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and midrange 7 Gen 1
Qualcomm has presented two new socs, including an improved version of its flagship soc the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. According to Qualcomm, the improved plus version is faster, consumes less energy and uses TSMC’s 4nm process instead of Samsung’s variant.
The manufacturer claims that both the GPU and CPU of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 are ten percent faster and use thirty percent less power compared to the 8 Gen 1. Qualcomm doesn’t give much detail on how this was achieved, though does the manufacturer say that the CPU of the 8+ Gen 1 has a 0.2GHz higher clock speed, with a maximum of 3.2GHz. This concerns the fast Cortex-X2 core.
According to Anandtech the other cores also got a higher clock speed. The three Cortex-A710 cores increase by 0.3GHz to 2.8GHz. The four Cortex-A510 cores increase by 0.2GHz to 1.8GHz. This medium also reports that the chip is made by TSMC at 4nm, while its predecessor was made by Samsung.
The shift from Samsung’s 4nm node to TSMC’s variant is probably the reason for the energy improvements. Due to all the energy improvements, a device should be able to stream video for eighty minutes longer and browse for fifty minutes longer, although the manufacturer does not provide further details about the type of device. While gaming, a device should be able to last an hour longer and a device should be able to make calls for 5.5 hours longer. Like its predecessor, the 8+ Gen 1 can record 8k videos at 30fps and HDR, and shoot 720p videos at 960fps.
Qualcomm expects the first smartphones to appear with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 soc in the third quarter of this year. Brands such as ASUS ROG, Honor, Lenovo, OnePlus, OPPO and Xiaomi are working on smartphones with the flagship soc, the manufacturer states.
Snapdragon 7 Gen 1
In addition to the flagship soc, Qualcomm also announced the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. This is intended for midrange devices and is the successor of the 778G+ soc. This makes it the second soc after the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to receive the new name. The 7 Gen 1 is an octacore with the fastest core clocked at 2.4GHz, three fast cores clocked at 2.36GHz and the four efficient cores running at 1.8GHz, reports Android Authority† The GPU is twenty percent faster than that of the original 778G.
The 7 Gen 1 soc supports qhd+ displays with a 60Hz refresh rate, while the 778G+ only supported fhd+ displays. The new soc also supports cameras with more megapixels. For example, the 7 Gen 1 can support three cameras with 25-megapixel sensors, or a single 84-megapixel sensor. With its predecessor, this was three 22-megapixel sensors or a single 64-megapixel sensor.
Qualcomm’s 7 Gen 1 soc will appear in smartphones for the first time in the current quarter. Honor, Oppo and Xiaomi, among others, have said that they will use the soc in their smartphones.