Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 flagship processor unveiled: 30% more power efficient and 10% faster

By: Elena Shcherban | 21.05.2022, 13:13

Qualcomm has unveiled the updated Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 flagship processor.

What changed?

In fact, the update is small, because the predecessor Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 never had any problems with performance. Its main disadvantages were overheating and power consumption. To solve them, Qualcomm had to move foundries - the process is still labeled "4nm" even though it comes from TSMC, not Samsung.

So, Qualcomm claims a 10% increase in CPU performance and a 30% increase in CPU power efficiency. The peak frequency of the Cortex-X2 core can now reach 3.2GHz. In addition, the AI ​​engine now has 20% better performance. Wireless modems have also become more efficient. Overall power efficiency at the SoC level has improved by 15%.

In more practical terms, a phone using the same chipset can stream video for 1 hour and 30 minutes longer than a phone using the old chip. Voice calls, light load, can now last 5 hours 30 minutes longer (with the same other equipment).

The rest of the features are the same as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. Up to 16 GB of LPDDR5 (3200 MHz) RAM is supported along with UFS 3.1 storage. The display driver supports QHD+ at up to 144Hz or 4K at 60Hz, as well as 10-bit rendering and HDR10+ support. The Snapdragon X65 modem has a theoretical peak speed of 10Gbps, while FastConnect 6900 provides Wi-Fi 6/6E up to 3.6GHz. Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity includes aptX Lossless and Bluetooth LE Audio (with longer playback times due to increased efficiency). The chipset contains the same triple 18-bit Spectra ISP that can handle up to 200MP sensors and 8K video capture at 30fps (4K at 120fps).

When to expect?

The first devices with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor should appear in the third quarter (July-September). Manufacturers such as Asus ROG, Black Shark, HONOR, iQOO, Lenovo, Motorola, Nubia, OnePlus, Oppo, OSOM, realme, Red Magic, Redmi, vivo, Xiaomi and ZTE will use it.

Source: Qualcomm