Today Qualcomm unveiled the class-leading Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor with high technologies and support for Wi-Fi 7, and we will soon see the new processor on the latest smartphones to be launched in the coming months.
The second generation Snapdragon 8 processor comes as a successor to the first generation Snapdragon 8 processor that the company unveiled last year and we have seen its outstanding performance on flagship phones like the Xiaomi 12.
This year, officially known as the SM8550-AB, this chip was manufactured in a 4nm process and included a number of improvements.
Major improvements in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor
CPUs and GPUs
Qualcomm has focused on improving battery power efficiency, however the new Kryo Triple CPU delivers up to 35% faster performance with up to 40% more efficiency than last year’s chip.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor also provides support for new memory technologies. For RAM, the processor runs LP-DDR5X up to 4200 MHz (compared to LP-DDR5 at 3200 MHz). For archiving you can use the new UFS 4.0 format, higher than UFS 3.1.
As for the Adreno graphics processing unit, it offers up to 25% higher performance, improving energy efficiency up to 45% compared to the previous generation.
For the first time, we’re seeing ray tracing support technology “ray accelerators” within games on the Snapdragon platform, paving the way for game developers to bring this feature to Android phones as they did to computers.
This GPU is the first to support Vulkan 1.3 (along with OpenGL ES 3.2).
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 can power the device’s displays with resolutions up to QHD+ at 144Hz or 4K at 60Hz.
It also supports external monitors up to 4K 60Hz (with 10-bit Rec.2020 color gamut, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision for playback).
And Qualcomm has finally enabled AV1 video decoding – streams up to 8K at 60fps (with HDR) are supported.
Read also on Technology News:
Apple plans to bring satellite connect functionality to iPhone 14 this month
Internet connection speed
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has been updated to the new Snapdragon X70 modem. It supports both mmWave and 5G sub-6GHz.
The maximum data download speed is 10Gbps and the maximum upload data speed is 3.5Gbps just like the first generation.
This modem supports Dual-SIM and Dual-Active (DSDA) operation where two 5G (or 5G + 4G) SIM cards are active at the same time.
For Wi-Fi connectivity, the new chip supports the upcoming Wi-Fi 7 standard (802.11be) thanks to the new FastConnect 78000 platform. It reaches 5.8 Gbps (up from 3.6 Gbps on the previous chip).
Camera support improvements in Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
The new processor can drive up to three 36MP (30fps) cameras simultaneously or up to 200ppi for a single camera. 108MP sensors are supported without any shutter lag.
For video, the chip can record 8K HDR footage at 30fps (and shoot 64MP photos simultaneously), 4K at 120fps, and even slow-motion video (720p at 960fps). It supports multiple HDR formats including HDR10+, HLG and Dolby Vision.
Finally, Qualcomm announced in its press release To reveal the new processor, the names of the manufacturers who will adopt the new chips in their next phones, led by Xiaomi, Oppo, Honor, Vivo, Motorola, Sony and a number of other companies, but we did not see the Samsung name in the list.
