By For years, the answer to the question “what is the most powerful mobile?” was the most recent iPhone. Each year, Apple raises the bar by developing its own chips, leaving Android makers far behind.
Qualcomm is primarily to blame. It’s clear that the manufacturer chose to ease up and focus on incremental improvements rather than the much-needed revolution. So it’s only fitting that Qualcomm puts an end to this scenario.
THE NEW SNAPDRAGON’S POWER WILL BENEFIT ANDROID SMARTPHONES
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After all these years, it appears that the top Android phones will finally be as powerful as the most recent iPhone models, thanks to the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 introduced last November. The first smartphones with it are now on the market, and early reviews are glowing.
According to @Golden Reviewer’s tests on a Xiaomi 13, which were posted on Twitter, the new Qualcomm processor offers a significant improvement over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and even the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chips, which increased efficiency in several areas.
Of course, you might be concerned that this would result in shorter battery life and increased heat generated by the processor, but research shows that despite being 10% more powerful, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2’s most powerful cores still operate at the same rate as the 8+ Gen 1.
The most serious criticism Qualcomm can face is that it appears to have focused primarily on improving those four “big cores,” which are activated when we require high performance, such as during demanding applications or video games. Since the previous generation, the efficient cores have hardly changed.
However, as Max Weinbach points out, the key point is that this power boost puts Apple’s most recent chip within easy reach. In terms of GPU performance, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 should be able to compete with the Apple A16 found in the iPhone 14 Pro. In terms of CPU performance, it is roughly equal.
The fact that the future appears bright may be the most encouraging development. Apple is rumored to be shifting its strategy with the next-generation iPhone, emphasizing efficiency over power, and Qualcomm has an advantage with Nuvia, a chipmaker formed by former Apple employees that it purchased in early 2021 and will have an impact on its future chips. As a result, we wouldn’t be surprised if Android phones eventually outperformed iPhones in terms of power.
QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON 8 GEN 2 (SM8550) SPECIFICATIONS
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- 1 x Kryo Prime CPU (Arm Cortex-X3 based) at up to 3.2GHz, 4 x Kryo Performance CPUs (2 x Arm Cortex-A715 and 2 x Arm Cortex-A710 based) at up to 2.8GHz, 3x Kryo Efficiency CPUs (Arm Cortex-A510 based) at up to 2GHz, ARMv9 architecture
- 4nm Process Technology
- Built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 5G modem RF system
- 5G speeds of up to 10Gpbs down, 5G mmWave and sub-6 GHz, standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) modes. MmWave: 1000 MHz bandwidth, 8 carriers, 2×2 MIMO, Sub-6 GHz.
- Qualcomm Adreno next-gen GPU, Vulkan 1.3 API support, HDR gaming (10-bit color depth, Rec. 2020 color gamut), API Support: OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 FP, Vulkan 1.3, Real-time Hardware-Accelerated Ray Tracing
- Up to 36 MP triple camera, Up to 64+36 MP dual camera, Up to 108 MP single camera with ZSL. Up to 200MP single camera, Qualcomm Spectra Image Sensor Processor (Cognitive 18-bit triple ISP)
- 2020 color gamut photo and video capture, Up to 10-bit color depth photo and video capture. 8K HDR Video Capture + 64 MP Photo Capture
- On-Device Display Support: 4K at 60 Hz / QHD+ at 144 Hz, Maximum External Display Support. Up to 4K @ 60 Hz, 10-bit color depth, Rec. 2020 color gamut, HDR10 and HDR10+, Demura and subpixel rendering for OLED Uniformity
- Qualcomm Hexagon Processor, Fused AI Accelerator, Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Hexagon Vector eXtensions, Hexagon Scalar Accelerator. Support for mix precision (INT8+INT16), Support for all precisions (INT4, INT8, INT16, FP16), Micro Tile Inferencing
- Support for LP-DDR5x memory up to 4200 MHz Wi-Fi 7 Peak speed: 5.8 Gbps, Wi-Fi 6E, 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) Multi-gigabit, Integrated 802.11ac 2×2 (2-stream) MU-MIMO, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6GHz, Bluetooth 5.3, LE Audio, Dual Bluetooth antennas
- Bluetooth audio: Snapdragon Sound Technology with support for Qualcomm aptX Voice, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, and LE audio, NFC
- GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC capable, Dual Frequency GNSS (L1/L5), Sensor-Assisted Positioning. Urban pedestrian navigation with sidewalk accuracy, Global freeway lane level vehicle navigation
- USB 4.0, USB-C
- Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 technology
