Fast on the heels of MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000 flagship processor launch is Qualcomm with its latest Snapdragon chipset that sports a new branding process. Called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the new processor was announced during Qualcomm’s annual Summit event that is held in Hawaii. As you might expect, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 brings a range of performance, camera, AI, and power efficiency gains over its predecessor, the Snapdragon 888. We’ve got the details for you after the break.
Much like MediaTek’s Dimensity 9000 chip, the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 includes a Cortex-X2 super-core that is clocked to 3.0GHz. The octa-core processor also sports a trio of Cortex-A710 cores clocked at 2.5GHz and a quartet of Cortex-A510 cores @ 1.8GHz for low-power usage. Where last year’s Snapdragon 888 was built using a 5nm process the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 uses a 4nm process.
Features:
Snapdragon Sight Technology
Capture photos and videos in extreme dynamic range with vivid color and clarity. Record astonishing detail in over a billion shades with first-in-mobile 8K HDR video capture. Plus, mega low light capture snaps 30 images and merges the best parts into one shot for brighter, clearer, more colorful photos after dark.
- The 18-bit ISP captures over 4,000x more camera data than
- the 14-bit predecessor
- Staggering capture speeds up to 3.2 gigapixels per second
- 8K HDR Video Capture
AI
Use AI to capture depth-defying images with Leica’s Leitz Look mode (recreating their legendary bokeh), or analyze and intelligently group and prioritize your notifications with natural language processing from Hugging Face. Plus, monitor your wellbeing with intelligent vocal analysis with Sonde Health.
- Up to 4x faster than our predecessor—fastest performance
- 2x larger shared memory plus a 2x faster tensor accelerator— best performance-per-watt in Snapdragon history
- 3rd Gen Qualcomm® Sensing Hub featuring a newly architected low-power AI system
Gaming
Volumetric rendering adds unrivaled realism to graphics like fog and smoke, while support for Unreal Engine 5 unleashes advanced lighting and shadow effects for breathtaking sequences. Plus, the Adreno Frame Motion Engine efficiently raises FPS for smooth, stunning action that lasts.
● Full suite of Snapdragon Elite Gaming™ Features
● Qualcomm® Adreno™ GPU delivers 30% faster graphics
rendering and increases power efficiency by 25%
● First Snapdragon platform with Audiokinetic technology
produces immersive, console-quality sound
5G
Our 4th Gen Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System offers unparalleled speeds and supports more networks, frequencies, and bandwidths globally—plus support for all-day battery life. Download content in seconds, stream without a hitch, get an edge in your favorite mobile game, or follow GPS in more places than ever before.
- World’s first 10-Gigabit 5G Modem-RF solution
- World’s first 3GPP Release 16 5G solution
- World’s first 5G uplink carrier aggregation for unprecedented upload speeds
Connectivity
Our Qualcomm® FastConnect™ 6900 Mobile Connectivity System offers the mobile industry’s fastest, most responsive Wi-Fi available. Plus, the FastConnect 6900 supports unparalleled Bluetooth audio with Snapdragon Sound™ Technology for rich, immersive, in-sync voice and music—as well as all-new LE audio implementations for all-new listening scenarios.
- Most advanced Wi-Fi 6 and 6E system with leading speeds up to 3.6 Gbps
- Supports Snapdragon Sound with Qualcomm® aptX™ Lossless Technology for CD-quality lossless wireless audio
- First Snapdragon to support LE Audio innovations such as broadcast audio, stereo recording for content creators, and voice back-channel for gaming
We’ve already seen the likes of OPPO and Realme announce that upcoming flagships will be powered by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, and they aren’t alone, with the following OEMs revealing their intentions to follow suit:
- Black Shark
- Honor
- iQOO
- SHARP
- Sony
- Vivo
- Motorola
- Nubia
- OnePlus
- Redmi
- Xiaomi
- ZTE
We should see the first smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor announced and perhaps even shipping before the end of December 2021, so there’s still a lot to look forward to before we get to 2022.
Specifications in full:
