Tag: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

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Mobile Syrup

Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with new camera, gaming and audio features

At Qualcomm’s annual Snapdragon Summit, the company unveiled its latest chipset technology, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. This new chip will be available in new flagship Android devices throughout the year, including Canada’s version of Samsung’s S23 series.

However, Qualcomm is working with companies like Asus, Motorola, OnePlus and ZTE, so the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will be featured in several more devices by the end of the year.

Qualcomm says that Snapdragon 8 Gen 2’s upgraded Hexagon Processor offers its most advanced Qualcomm AI Engine ever, with features like multi-language translation and transcription, advanced AI Cinematic video and its Sensing Hub, which offers dual-AI processors for the first time, with new experiences like direct-to-app voice assistance to control your favourite apps. Further, you should expect 4.35x faster AI performance and Micro Tile Inferencing.

With the 8 Gen 2, you should expect better camera performance in devices sporting the chip. The 8 Gen 2 is also compatible with 200-megapixel photo capture, which is rumoured to be coming to the upcoming S23 Ultra. Further, expect 8K HDR video capture in 10-bit HDR.

This is also the first Snapdragon platform with AI-powred Always Sensing Camera. The Always-Sensing Camera offers features like allowing the camera to scan QR codes with the phone being turned off, and a new privacy option which kills notifications if it notices a secondary person looking at your phone. Qualcomm says this Always-Sensing Camera technology is entirely on-device and in its Sensing Hub. The company also added a second AI processor to the chip that increased AI performance by 2x and features 50 percent more memory.

Away from the camera, the Sensing Hub will also support experiences that enable custom wake words, and additional features from the Qualcomm AI Stack, including AI Studio, to allow developers to create even better next-gen AI apps.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 supports Unreal Engine 5 and Metahuman framework for realistic human characters. It also features Vulkan 1.3 API that supports Ray Tracing. With its Ray Tracing capabilities, the 8 Gen 2 can bring lifelike lighting effects like shadows, reflections and illumination to your games. The Adreno GPU offers up to 25 percent faster performance with up to 45 percent better power efficiency. Kryo CPU improves performance by up to 35 percent, while new micro-architecture allows up to 40 percent more power efficiency.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 also brings HDR Vivid, a China-based standard in addition to HDR 10, HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision.

The 8 Gen 2 sports Snapdragon X70 5G Modem RF System, the world’s first and only mobile platform with a dedicated 5G AI processor. Additionally, it works with Wi-Fi 7 due to its Fast Connect 7800 Mobile Connectivity System. Also, expect blazing speeds of up to 5.8Gbps, which is more than double than Wi-Fi 6. It features 5G Dual-SIM Dual-Active, which lets you simultaneously use two 5G SIM cards, alongside enhanced Face Unlock for its security.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 supports spatial audio with dynamic head tracking for ultra-immersive gaming and multimedia experiences. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 supports 48kHz lossless music streaming technology and the lowest-ever latency at 48ms for better gaming.

Image credit: Qualcomm

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Mobile Syrup

Tipster suggests that Qualcomm could release two versions of the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 successor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is reported to be unveiled at the Snapdragon Summit taking place on November 15th-17th, later this year.

A new leak regarding the upcoming SoC (system-on-a-chip) from tipster ‘Digital Chat Station’ on the Chinese social media website Weibo suggests that Qualcomm’s upcoming chip will release in two separate versions, via Android Authority.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 would release as a standard chipset, alongside an ‘ultra-high frequency version’ that increases clock speeds significantly.

The current-gen Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 runs at 3.19GHz, whereas the reported ‘ultra-high frequency version’ of 8 Gen 2 would be able to clock in at 3.4 to 3.5GHz. Higher clock speeds equal faster and more responsive phones, so the upgraded chip could be reserved for the highest-end flagships, while regular Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 could be used in base model flagships.

However, this is just a leak. A very optimistic one, to say the least, and should be taken with a grain of salt.

We’ll know for sure if Qualcomm intends to launch two versions of the 8 Gen 2 chipset at its Snapdragon Summit on November 15th-17th.

Source: ‘Digital Chat Station’ on Weibo Via: Android Authority

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Mobile Syrup

Qualcomm could unveil next Snapdragon flagship chip early

Qualcomm typically unveils its new flagship Snapdragon chipset in December, but it looks like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 could come early this year.

As spotted by GSM Arena (via Android Police), Qualcomm posted — and later removed — about a Snapdragon Summit happening from November 14th to 17th this year. The annual Snapdragon Summit is where the company usually unveils its next big Snapdragon chipset.

That would put the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 unveil about two weeks ahead of last year’s 8 Gen 1 reveal, which happened on December 1st.

However, considering Qualcomm quickly took down the post, it’s likely the company didn’t intend to announce the event this early. Moreover, it’s possible the dates aren’t finalized yet.

All that said, the announcement date ultimately doesn’t matter that much. Qualcomm usually announces the Snapdragon 8-series chips in December, but we don’t see phones with the new chips until the following year.

More important than the announcement is the chip itself, which Android Police reports might be a little odd this year. According to the publication, Qualcomm plans to ditch the ‘1+3+4’ configuration in the 8 Gen 1 for a ‘1+2+2+3’ core set-up in the Gen 2. These correspond to the yet-to-be-announced Cortex-X3 core, two Cortex-A720 cores, two Cortex-A710 cores and three Cortext-A510 cores. The 8 Gen 1 had a Cortex-X2 Prime, three A710s and four A510s.

Although weird, Android Police notes that the departure is likely an effort on Qualcomm’s part to maintain support for 32-bit apps. Newer cores like the Cortex-X3 and A720 cores likely won’t support 32-bit apps as the industry moves to phase them out, but 32-bit remains popular in China, which is a major market for Qualcomm. The rumoured A710s in the Gen 2 will be able to handle the 32-bit apps.

Header image credit: Shutterstock

Source: GSM Arena Via: Android Police