Qualcomm introduces Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 mobile processor

Qualcomm has introduced a new processor for premium smartphones - Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. It will consume 39% less power than Gen 3 and will appear in the iQOO Z10 Turbo later this month, and later in smartphones from Xiaomi, OPPO, Meizu, and others.

The new processor is built on TSMC's 4-nanometer (NP4) process. It uses the older Kryo CPU system, unlike the Oryon used in the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite. The chip contains one Cortex-X4 core clocked at up to 3.2 GHz, three Cortex-A720 cores clocked at 3.0 GHz, two Cortex-A720 cores clocked at 2.8 GHz, and two A720 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz.

Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is 31% faster than the previous generation, consumes 39% less power, and thanks to the updated Hexagon neural chip, offers 44% better performance in AI tasks. Equipped with the Adreon 825, the processor will also offer 49% better graphics performance.

In addition, to enhance the gaming experience, the chip supports on-device ray tracing technologies and features Snapdragon Elite Gaming, Snapdragon Game Super Resolution 2.0 and Adreno Image Motion Engine 2.0. Qualcomm has also implemented an 18-bit triple signal processor (ISP) that supports cameras up to 320 MP and the ability to record HDR video at 4K60fps.

Among other things, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 features the Snapdragon X75 5G modem with a maximum download speed of 4.2Gbps, but the chip only supports sub-6GHz spectrum instead of the faster mmWave frequency bands. It also has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0.

In addition to this, the processor supports UFS 4.0 storage, LPDDR5X RAM, and USB 3.1 Gen 2. Other features include Qualcomm's Extended Personal Area Network (XPAN), which uses Wi-Fi to transmit audio.