Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: Specs and Release Date
10/24/2023
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: The Next Level of Mobile Performance
Qualcomm is one of the leading companies in the mobile industry, providing powerful and efficient processors for many of the best Android phones. The company is expected to unveil its latest flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, at its annual Snapdragon Summit later on today, and you can watch the keynote livestream here:
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 will be the successor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which was launched in November 2022 and featured in devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S23, the OnePlus 10 and the Xiaomi Mi 13. The Gen 2 chip was a significant improvement over the Gen 1 chip, which was released in December 2021 and powered phones like the Samsung Galaxy S22, the OnePlus 9 and the Xiaomi Mi 12.
The Gen 2 chip offered better performance, energy efficiency, graphics, connectivity and AI capabilities than the Gen 1 chip, thanks to its advanced architecture and features. The Gen 2 chip also had a special variant for Samsung Galaxy devices, called the Gen 2 for Galaxy, which had some exclusive enhancements for gaming and photography.
So, what can we expect from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3? How will it compare to the Gen 2 chip and the Apple A17 Bionic chip, which is rumored to power the iPhone 15 series? Let’s take a look at some of the leaked specs and features of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and see what it has to offer.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: Specs and Features
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is the latest flagship processor from Qualcomm, announced on October 24, 2023 at the Snapdragon Summit. It is manufactured using a 4nm process and has a 1+5+2 core configuration, with a maximum clock speed of 3.19 GHz. It also features an Adreno 750 GPU, a Hexagon NPU, a Spectra 800L ISP, and a Snapdragon X65 5G modem.
Some of the key features and improvements of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 over the previous generation are:
- Higher CPU performance and efficiency, thanks to the new Cortex-X4 and Cortex-A720 cores.
- Enhanced AI capabilities, with support for all precisions, dual micro NPUs, and a dedicated power delivery system.
- Improved ISP features, with support for up to four concurrent cameras, dual Always-Sensing ISPs, and up to 200 MP single camera resolution.
- Higher display support, with up to 4K @144 Hz or QHD+ @240 Hz with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.
- Faster memory speed, with LPDDR5X up to 4200 MHz.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is expected to power some of the best Android phones of 2023, such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, the OnePlus 12 series, and the Xiaomi Mi 13 series. According to some leaked benchmarks, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 can score around 1.9 million points in AnTuTu 10, which is about 27% higher than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
| Feature | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU Architecture | 1x 3.3 GHz Cortex-X4 5x 3.2 GHz Cortex-A720 2x 2.3 GHz Cortex-A720 | 1x 3.36 GHz Cortex-X3 4x 2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 3x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A510 |
| GPU | Adreno 750 | Adreno 740 |
| NPU | Hexagon with fused AI accelerator architecture, support for all precisions, and dual micro NPUs for audio and sensors | Hexagon with fused AI accelerator architecture, support for mix precision, and dedicated power delivery system |
| ISP | Spectra 800L with dual Always-Sensing ISPs and support for up to four concurrent cameras | Spectra 800 with support for up to three concurrent cameras |
| Display | Up to 4K @144 Hz or QHD+ @240 Hz with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision | Up to QHD+ @144 Hz or FHD+ @240 Hz with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision |
| Memory | LPDDR5 up to 3200 MHz, up to 16 GB | LPDDR5 up to 3200 MHz, up to 16 GB |
| Storage | UFS 3.1, UFS Gear4, USB-C PD | UFS 3.1, UFS Gear4, USB-C PD |
| Connectivity | Snapdragon X65 5G modem-RF system with up to 10 Gbps download speed and up to 400 Mbps upload speed, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, GPS | Snapdragon X65 5G modem-RF system with up to 10 Gbps download speed and up to 400 Mbps upload speed, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, GPS |
| AnTuTu Score (estimated) | ~1.9 million points | ~1.5 million points |
As you can see, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has some advantages over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in terms of CPU performance, AI capabilities, ISP features, display support, and memory speed. However, both processors are very powerful and capable of running high-end games and applications smoothly.