Qualcomm unveiled its newest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Performance has improved across the board as compared to the Gen 1 model. The SM8550-AB, the chip’s formal name, was created on a 4nm node. Here are some details on the parts of it.
Snapdragon Gen 2 Features Cutting-Edge Kryo CPU
Despite Qualcomm’s focus on improving power efficiency, the new CPU still delivers observable performance boosts. Up to 40% more efficient and up to 35% faster performance are available with the new Kryo CPU triple.
Although the core composition of the 8+ Gen 1 is different, the clock speeds are the same. The single Kryo Prime core, which runs at 3.2GHz and is based on Cortex-X3, offers high single-threaded performance. But this time, four Performance cores running at 2.8GHz are there to support it, making it more suitable for multi-threaded applications. The last three cores are Efficiency cores.
The Gen 2 has support for new, faster memory technologies. Up to 4,200MHz of LP-DDR5X RAM is supported (up from LP-DDR5 at 3,200MHz). It supports the brand-new UFS 4.0 data storage standard (up from UFS 3.1).
Adreno GPU Offers Ray Tracing Performance in Real-time Gameplay
The latest Adreno GPU offers up to 25% faster performance and up to 45% more power efficiency, and the Snapdragon platform now supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing. Ray tracing hardware is now available from the main Android chipset manufacturers, so it’s feasible that mobile game developers may embrace the new technique like they did for PC and console games.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 can handle on-device screens with QHD+ resolution at up to 144Hz and those with 4K resolution at up to 60Hz. Additionally, it supports 10-bit Rec. 2020 colour gamut, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and external displays up to 4K at 60Hz. AV1 video decoding has now been made accessible by Qualcomm and is capable of handling streams up to 8K at 60 frames per second (with HDR).
Camera
The Gen 2’s triple 18-bit ISP, like its predecessor’s, can handle up to three 36MP cameras working at 30 frames per second or up to 200PM for a single camera. Qualcomm claims that Samsung’s 200MP HP3 and Sony’s Digital Overlap HDR sensors have been optimised to perform with the Snapdragon ISP. 108MP sensors can offer zero shutter lag.
The processor supports 4K at 120 frames per second, slow-motion films, and 8K HDR video at 30 frames per second (720p at 960fps). Included in the supported HDR formats are HDR10+, HLG, and Dolby Vision. Using DOL sensors, it can capture up to four exposures for each video frame.
Connectivity
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU now has the new Snapdragon X70 modem. Of course, it supports both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G. The maximum downlink and peak uplink speeds are both 10 Gbps. Thanks to this modem’s Dual-SIM, Dual-Active functionality, two 5G SIMs (or 5G+4G) may be active at the same time.
The new FastConnect 78000 system, which supports the upcoming Wi-Fi 7 standard, enables local connection. It is capable of 5.8Gbps (up from 3.6Gbps on the previous chip). The Bluetooth 5.3 protocol is still supported by the FastConnect system. With the most latest Snapdragon Sound system, it can enable 48kHz lossless audio streaming and the lowest-ever 48ms latency for gaming.
Leading Android makers including Asus ROG, Honor, iQOO, Motorola, nubia, OnePlus, Oppo, Red Magic, Sharp, Sony, vivo, Xiaomi, Meizu, and ZTE will employ the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 CPU, according to Qualcomm’s press release. Samsung is not named, despite the fact that Qualcomm said in a previous financials call that the Korean company would exclusively use its chipset for the Galaxy S23, the next generation of high-end Galaxy smartphones.
Comparing the Snapdragon Gen 2 to competitors like the A16 Bionic and the Dimensity 9200 is something we’re interested in doing. As soon as we obtain the official benchmarks, we’ll let you know.