Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 comes with more power and better AI

At the Snapdragon Summit, the chip manufacturer presented the latest generation of mobile processors: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This follows on from the previous flagship model Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, is said to have a performance increase of 30 per cent and consume 25 per cent less energy. Like its predecessor, it is mainly used on high-end Android phones.

Qualcomm is already by far the biggest player on the CPU market. Only Google's Pixel phones are equipped with Tensor SoCs. Even Samsung has recently opted for Qualcomm products for its flagship line, the Galaxy Ultra models, while in previous years some of its own Exynos series processors were used.

Seven cores, more power - and yet less power consumption

The third generation of the Snapdragon 8 uses a total of seven CPU cores. The main core is a Cortex-X4, clocked at 3.3 gigahertz. A total of five Cortex-A720 cores provide the performance. Three of these have a clock frequency of 3.2 GHz, while two further 720s are clocked at 3.0 GHz.

This is rounded off by two efficiency cores. These are Cortex A520 models, each with a clock frequency of 2.3 GHz. It is not yet clear exactly what values will be achieved - the benchmarks are still pending. But it definitely sounds like a lot of power.

Qualcomm has also improved the graphics unit. The new Adreno GPU increases both performance and energy efficiency by 25 per cent. Qualcomm wants to ensure that Android users get the "best possible" mobile gaming experience. Qualcomm wants to be able to compete with the iPhone 15 Pro - for example with 8K gameplay, hardware-accelerated ray tracing and a refresh rate of up to 240 hertz. The "Lumen Lightning" of Unreal Engine 5 will also be used. This refers to the new system with which the lighting and reflections in the game are displayed particularly realistically.

Multi-modal AI with top performance

Qualcomm is following in the footsteps of Google's Tensor G3. This becomes clear when you look at the new AI functions of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. There is also an Eraser function. You can use this to remove unwanted objects from an image or video. It is also possible to produce an AI-generated image with stable diffusion on the device - in less than a second.

This is possible because Stable Diffusion runs on the chipset - certain processes have previously been outsourced to the cloud. This means that elements can not only be removed from existing images, but also added to them.

These AI skills are made possible by the implementation of "special modules", including a new NPU (New Processing Unit), which is said to be 98 per cent faster than the second generation Snapdragon 8. Last but not least, multimodal AI models such as ChatGPT or Metas Llama 2 are also supported.

Lossless Bluetooth and artificially generated focal length

Qualcomm has also thought about audio and photo enthusiasts with its new chipset. Lossless music tracks can now also be transmitted at 24-bit and 96 kHz via Bluetooth. On the photo side, it is possible to generate AI image content when zooming out. This gives you a greater focal length.

Which devices are supported

You can assume that the top models from the big Android names will rely on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Tomorrow, for example, the Xiaomi 14 will be unveiled - perhaps already with the new chipset?