Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has been launched. Announced at Tech Summit 2022 event, the new mobile platform has arrived as the successor to the Snapdragon 888 mobile platform that was announced in December last year. The first phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 are expected to launch this month in China.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is Qualcomm’s first 4nm chip. It is equipped with new Kryo cores that are based on ARMv9 architecture, which was announced in March this year. As compared to the SD888, its successor offers 20 percent improvement in the CPU performance and 30 percent enhanced GPU performance. Here is a look at the first phones that will arrive with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 specifications
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 continues to offer a tri-cluster design like its predecessor. It features a Cortex-X2 prime core working at 3.0GHz, three Cortex-A710 performance cores clocking at 2.5GHz, and four Cortex-A510 efficiency cores ticking at 1.8GHz. The new Adreno GPU comes with an Adreno Frame Motion Engine, which can be used to increase the frame rate of a game by maintaining power consumption. The 7th generation Qualcomm AI Engine with the latest Hexagon processor offers fourfold better performance than its predecessor.
The SD8G1 is integrated with the X65 5G modem that allows devices to connect with sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G networks with up to 10GBps downlink speeds. It also carries support for Wi-Fi 6, 6E, and improved Bluetooth connectivity. It supports Bluetooth LE Audio and is capable of streaming CD Lossless Audio over Bluetooth.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 features an 18-bit triple ISP system, which can process 4,096 times more camera data than the Snapdragon 888’s 14-bit ISP. The triple ISP is capable of capturing photos at 3.2-gigapixels per second. In simpler terms, it can shoot 240 12-megapixel photos in one second or capture an 8K HDR video while shooting 64-megapixel photos simultaneously. The phones featuring the Gen 1 can process camera data from three 36-megapixel cameras at the same time without encountering shutter lag. The SoC also supports capturing 8K HDR 10 Plus videos and shooting 18-bit RAW images.
In addition, the ISP can process data from up to 30 dark mode images for brighter shots in dim light conditions. Other photography enhancements available with the new chip include better AI processing, a bokeh engine, and an ultrawide engine. There is a fourth ISP available in the chipset’s sensing hub for powering an always-on camera for enhanced security. It can be used for face unlocking and locking if the user’s face is not present. The chip offers a dedicated Trust Management Engine for heightened security.
