Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 unveiled with new ARMv9 CPU cores, new Adreno GPU architecture and much more

Qualcomm unveiled its next-generation chipset for flagship Android devices and it brings improvements left and right. Thats the reason they named it Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 not the Snapdragon 898. Good Marketing.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 brings notable improvements in performance and power efficiency for the CPU and GPU. It is Qualcomm’s first 4nm chipset. The CPU still has the 1+3+4 cluster design, however, the cores are updated, now based on the ARMv9 designs. The Primary core is a Cortex-X2 clocked at 3.0GHz. Then there are three high performance cores based on the Cortex-A710, clocked at 2.5GHz, and four high efficiency cores based on the A510 running at 1.8GHz. Overall, the new CPU will be 20% faster than the one in the Snapdragon 888 while also reducing power usage by up to 30%.

Now here’s the competition, the Dimensity 9000 5G chipset is also built on a 4nm process. The SoC also has a 1+3+4 setup. One cortex X2 core clocked at 3.05Ghz and 3 Cortex-A710 clocked at up to 2.85Ghz, and 4 efficiency Cortex A510 cores clocked at 1.8Ghz. For graphics, there’s a new Mali-G710 GPU with 10-cores.

Whereas the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 brings new Adreno GPU promises a 30% performance boost and up to 25% power saving thanks to its new architecture. They opted for no numbers at the back of the Adreno GPU name this time.

If your’s hoping for the antutu score then here’s a leaked score.

Snapdragon Sight is the branding for the ISP, which now comes with a variety of features. There are 3 ISPs inside this chip.

The ISP can now process 3.2 gigapixels per second. It can capture 240 12MP photos per second – double what the Snapdragon 888 ISP could manage or 108MP full resolution photos 30 times per second. Or if it’s connected to three cameras simultaneously, it can do 3x36MP at 30 shots per second. Qualcomm also redesigned the ISP to work at 18 bits per channel, up from 14 bits. This chipset can export uncompressed 18-bit RAW images for editing.

Due to all of this the video capturing experience has been enhanced as well. The chip is capable of taking 8K videos at 30fps, but it now also supports HDR capture while doing Electronic Image Stabilization at the same time. Also, the user can snap 64 MP photos while recording an 8K/30 video simultaneously.

Qualcomm also added a hardware engine to create blur around the subject in videos at up to 4K resolution.

Because it can merge up to 30 frames into a single image, up from 6 frames, so that is a 5x improvement in low light situation. They are calling Mega low light mode. Which will be one of the most interesting capabilities of the chip.

There is Always-On ISP for fast face unlocking and locking. This ISP can detect if you are sharing your screen with someone else so that the phone can silence notifications or if someone is looking over your shoulder, for privacy.

Of course, these comes with privacy concerns with an always-on camera. So according to Qualcomm no data from this ISP will leave the device and it is protected by the new security features of the Snapdragon chip. Also, this feature will be up to OEMs to enable or disable.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 features an integrated X65 5G modem, which supports both sub-6 and mmWave 5G signals and can deliver peak speeds of 10 Gbps theoretically. There’s also support for the Wi-Fi 6 and 6E standards, plus improvements to Bluetooth. It supports Bluetooth LE Audio, which represents a major improvement over existing tech. The Broadcast Audio feature allows one source to broadcast one or several audio streams to an unlimited number of receivers. The new chip can stream CD Lossless Audio over Bluetooth LE. Which is a huge improvement.

Here's a list of the most important features of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1:

• 3GHz Cortex-X2 core

• Cortex A710 and cortex A510 cores

• 30% faster Adreno GPU with 25% lower power consumption.

• The world’s first X65 5G modem( peak speed 10 Gigabit per second)

• First 18-bit image signal processor for mobile.

• First 8K 30FPS HDR10+ video capture for mobile.

• Mega low-light capture snaps 30 images to merges.

• Always-On ISP for fast face unlocking and locking.

• 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine for voice analysis and Leica Leitz Look bokeh filters.

• Bluetooth Low Energy audio features like loose less audio, broadcasting, stereo recording, and voice back-channel for gaming.

• First platform with Android Ready Secure Element support, the new standard for digital car keys or drivers’ licenses.