One such development is the recent introduction of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset. This piece provides a comprehensive exploration of Qualcomm’s latest offering, designed to bridge the gap between flagship and mid-range devices.
Qualcomm, a leading player in mobile technology, has recently unveiled the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3. This chipset is designed to offer premium features at a more affordable price point, effectively targeting the upper mid-range market segment. The processor’s introduction heralds a new tier in Qualcomm’s 8-series lineup, which can sometimes be a bit confounding considering the intricate gradations of performance and pricing.
“Is it upper midrange? Is it lesser high-end? Hard to say.” – Qualcomm
The Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 is power-packed with features that rival its high-end predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It supports on-device generative AI models, bringing the power of artificial intelligence to more affordable phones.
The 8S Gen 3 comes with a GPU akin to the standard 8 Gen 3. However, it operates at a lower frequency, with its prime core running at up to 3.0GHz compared to 3.4GHz on the 8 Gen 3. This reduction in speed is compensated for by a robust performance in everyday tasks and gaming.
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The 8S Gen 3 uses a previous generation modem, the X70 5G, which supports Wi-Fi 7. This ensures faster internet speeds and more reliable connections, even in densely populated areas.
The chipset supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing, enabling smoother, more photorealistic gaming experiences. Also, it can run large language models of up to 10 billion parameters, including Llama 2 and Gemini Nano.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon lineup comprises four high-level tiers: the Snapdragon 8, 7, 6, and 4 series chipsets. Each of these tiers can be further broken down into up to three different offerings, with the “S” series sitting just below the standard 8 Gen 3.
It’s important to note that smartphone manufacturers continue to use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Qualcomm’s 2022 flagship, in upper mid-range phones. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 also exists just below the 8S Gen 3. Qualcomm’s multiple offerings in this segment seem to be a strategic move to maintain its market dominance, especially with MediaTek vying for the same market segment.
The 8S Gen 3 is set to hit the market soon, with brands like Honor, iQOO, Realme, Redmi, and Xiaomi planning to integrate the platform into their upcoming devices. However, these devices may not be readily available in the US market.