TL;DR
- Qualcomm has launched the new Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC.
- Qualcomm is promising big improvements, but these improvements are measured against the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 instead of more recent SoCs.
- The first phones with the new SoC will be launched by HONOR and vivo this month.
Qualcomm’s SoC lineup is seeing a new entrant today, as the company has announced the new Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, which we presume would be the chip of choice for upcoming premium mid-range devices. Qualcomm highlights high peak CPU speeds, significantly faster GPU performance, and many AI performance improvements on the SoC over its predecessor. However, for these comparisons, Qualcomm is strangely comparing the 7 Gen 3 to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 instead of the 7 Gen 2, 7s Gen 2, and Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2.
The new Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 is a 4nm SoC with part number SM7550-AB, which aligns with past leaks. It comes with a Kryo CPU with one prime core clocked at 2.63GHz, three performance cores at 2.4GHz, and four efficiency cores at 1.8GHz. Qualcomm’s spec sheet and press release do not share more information on the cores used, though, but the company claims that it delivers 15% improved performance and 20% overall power efficiency over the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1.
Qualcomm’s spec sheet also does not mention the specific Adreno GPU used but claims that it delivers over 50% faster graphics rendering for HDR gaming against the Adreno 644 GPU from the 7 Gen 1. The new GPU also enables select Snapdragon Elite gaming features.
The ISP on this SoC is the Qualcomm Spectra ISP, a triple 12-bit ISP. It supports up to 21MP triple cameras, 32+21MP dual cameras, or a 64MP single camera, all at 30fps with zero shutter lag. It can also do 200MP photo captures and supports 4K HDR video capture at 60fps.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 comes with the Snapdragon X63 5G Modem-RF system, with DSDA 5G and 4G. It also supports Qualcomm FastConnect 6700, which enables Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
Other highlights of the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 include the Hexagon NPU, support for up to 168Hz refresh rates on WFHD+ devices (but going back down to a great 120Hz on WQHD+), support for triple frequency (L1/L5/L2) GNSS, support for LPDDR5 RAM going up to 3,200MHz, UFS 3.1 storage, and support for broadcasting audio through Auracast.
Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 will be first adopted by OEMs, including HONOR and vivo, with the first device expected to be announced within this month itself.
