Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1: Slightly more performance, slightly less power consumption
Qualcomm has unveiled two new smartphone processors. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is the new flagship model and the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 wants to spread into the mid-range.
The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1's key specs - such as eight processing cores with up to 3.2 gigahertz - remain unchanged compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. According to Qualcomm, it still manages to squeeze more performance out of the new processor with less power consumption.
More performance, less consumption
Compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the new Plus version is supposed to deliver ten percent more CPU and GPU performance. The power consumption is supposed to be reduced by 15 percent across the board. According to Qualcomm, this corresponds to one hour more battery life when gaming, for example. However, the company does not reveal how exactly Qualcomm achieves the better rates.
The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is supposed to be available for smartphone manufacturers in the third quarter. Qualcomm already names 16 manufacturers that will install the processor. These include Lenovo and Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme and Vivo, and Xiaomi.
Snapdragon 7 Gen 1: The new one for the mid-range
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, on the other hand, is completely new and the first mid-range processor in Qualcomm's new naming framework. Like the 8-series Snapdragons, it is manufactured in a 4-nanometer process and has eight processing cores that are clocked with up to 2.4 gigahertz (1x ARM Cortex-A710 Prime, 3x ARM Cortex-A710 Performance, 4x ARM Cortex-A510). The unspecified Adreno GPU is supposed to offer a 20% better performance compared to the predecessor - which is likely to be the Snapdragon 778G - and supports Dolby Vision, HLG, h.265 and VP9.
Smartphones with it on board can have displays with a maximum of Full HD+ resolution and a refresh rate of 144 hertz. At 60 hertz, a higher resolution is possible with QHD+. It supports HDR10 as well as HDR10+ and up to 16 gigabytes of working memory.
Qualcomm's Spectra Triple 14-bit image processor processes photos with up to 200 megapixels of resolution. However, a single camera can only have 84 megapixels so that the shutter lag is zero. In a dual camera, the resolution is divided into 64 and 20 megapixels, and three cameras cannot have more than 25 megapixels.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 includes the 5G modem Snapdragon X62. Thus, every smartphone with the new processor is prepared for the mobile standard. It is also capable of Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 should still be available in the second quarter of 2022. So, the first smartphones with it could be unveiled soon. However, the list of possible partners is shorter. Qualcomm only names Honor, Oppo and Xiaomi as selected examples.
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