huge image: Qualcomm stands out as the main maker of cellular chips within the high-end phase, however within the mid-range phase the corporate faces stiff competitors from Taiwanese fabless semiconductor firm MediaTek, whose SoCs are more and more frequent in reasonably priced units, particularly in China, India and different worldwide markets.
Qualcomm not too long ago launched the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 cellular chipset for high-end mid-range smartphones. This is the second Snapdragon 7 collection SoC launched by Qualcomm, an improve to final yr’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC. The firm by no means introduced a “+” variant of the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, nor did it launch the usual Snapdragon 7 Gen 2.
In phrases of {hardware} specs, Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 makes use of an octa-core CPU with 1+3+4 core configuration, together with a 2.91GHz Cortex-X2 Prime core, three 2.49GHz Cortex-A710 Performance cores, and 4 1.8 GHz Cortex A510 high-efficiency core.
The new chip additionally options an unspecified Vulcan 1.1-enabled Adreno GPU, choose Snapdragon Elite gaming options, and the Adreno Frame Motion Engine. AI duties might be dealt with by the Hexagon DSP, which is alleged to ship 2x the AI efficiency of the earlier technology chip.
In phrases of efficiency, Qualcomm did not present any benchmark outcomes, however claimed that the customized Kryo CPU cores will present greater than 50% efficiency enchancment over its predecessor. Adreno GPUs are mentioned to supply twice the efficiency of previous-generation chips.
Qualcomm additionally claims that the brand new chip is 13 p.c extra energy environment friendly in “on a regular basis use” than the first-generation Snapdragon 7, thanks largely to TSMC’s 4nm course of node. In distinction, the first-generation chips have been fabricated on Samsung’s 4nm course of node.
Like its predecessor, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 additionally helps LPDDR5 reminiscence (not LPDDR5X) working at 3,200MHz. The new SoC additionally integrates a Snapdragon X62 mobile modem with help for 5G NR sub-6 and mmWave. Qualcomm claims the modem helps obtain speeds of as much as 4.4Gbps and active-active 5G. Other connectivity options embody Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth v5.3.
Photography is a significant space of enchancment for the brand new chips, with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 collection’ triple 18-bit Spectra ISP changing the 14-bit unit within the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. Qualcomm says the change will result in higher photographs and movies with improved dynamic vary. It additionally guarantees brighter photographs in low mild with much less noise.
The Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 might be utilized by many Android distributors, together with Xiaomi and BBK Electronics below their Redmi and Realme manufacturers respectively. Devices with the brand new chipset will begin hitting the market by the tip of this month.
