Snapdragon 6 and 4 Gen 1 promise premium features for entry-level phones

4 minutes read

Almost a year after the relaunch of the Snapdragon family with a new “simpler” naming system, Qualcomm unexpectedly announced this week the new Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, finalizing the process started during the company’s conference in December. last year. Already seen in multiple leaks, the components bring more than renewed names, promising to bring premium features to basic phones.

Table of Contents

IFA 2022 | Meta closes deal to use Qualcomm chips in future VR headsets
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: Qualcomm wants powerful chip with lower battery consumption

Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is up to 40% better than its predecessor

Highlighted not only for being the most powerful release, but also for providing the most remarkable leaps in performance compared to the previous generation, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 comes to succeed the Snapdragon 695 — present in devices such as the Galaxy A23 5G and the Moto G62 — and serve intermediate smartphones that seek to balance performance and price.

The first big news is in the CPU, which abandons the configuration of 2 + 6 cores in favor of 4 + 4, seeking to balance even more the cores of performance and efficiency. The chip features a combination of 4 high-performance Cortex-A78 cores running at up to 2.2 GHz with 4 high-efficiency Cortex-A55 cores running at up to 2.0 GHz. The simple frequency increases and the new organization would deliver respectable gains of up to 40% over the 695, according to Qualcomm.

The solution still draws attention for being manufactured in a 4 nm process, but it is not clear whether the technology is from Samsung or TSMC, although it is more likely to be the former if we consider that the most advanced Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 is manufactured. by the South Korean giant. Another highlight is the updated and as-yet-unnamed Adreno GPU, which would deliver up to 35% more performance than the previous-gen Adreno 619.

In addition to the renewed nomenclature, the new Snapdragon 6 and 4 Gen 1 promise to bring premium features to the most basic phones (Image: Qualcomm)

Complementing the processing advances, Qualcomm has redesigned the platform’s memory block, which now supports LPDDR5-5500 RAM, increasing bandwidth to 22 GB/s. The 29% growth should ensure that the CPU, GPU and other areas of the chipset maintain a high data flow, thus guaranteeing increased performance.

The launch should also deliver respectable results in Artificial Intelligence, thanks to the adoption of the new 7th generation Qualcomm AI Engine, another similarity with the company’s most advanced platforms. In addition to algorithms in vector and scalar formats, the engine can process Tensor codes, dedicated to accelerating this type of workload.

For cameras, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 gets upgrades by bringing back to Series 6 support for 4K HDR recording at 30 FPS, supporting Computational HDR, and having Triple Image Signal Processor (ISP) technology, supporting cameras. of up to 200 MP — which signals that we could see sensors like Samsung’s ISOCELL HP1 reach the intermediates.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 brings up to 40% more powerful redesigned CPU, 35% faster GPU, 200MP camera support, plus improved connectivity and AI processing (Image: Qualcomm)

Completing the list of changes, the chip has significant improvements in connectivity with the presence of the Snapdragon X62 modem and the FastConnect 6700 module, bringing compatibility with 5G networks in sub-6 and mmWave standards to present download speeds of up to 2.9 Gbps, Wi-Fi 6E with WPA3 encryption, Dual Band GPS on L1 and L5 bands, Bluetooth 5.2 and Bluetooth LE Audio.

Other than that, Quick Charge 4 Plus charging technology is on board, promising fast charging with more energy efficiency and better temperature control. With model number SM6450, the novelty should still take some time to reach consumers: smartphones equipped with Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 are expected to debut in the first quarter of 2023, between the months of January and March.

Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 is the most efficient modest upgrade

Aimed at entry-level phones and with model number SM4375, the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 is a more modest upgrade compared to its 6-series sibling, but still promises to significantly improve users’ experience. The platform’s CPU brought improvements by abandoning the already old Cortex-A76 cores, despite keeping the 2 + 6 cores configuration of the Snapdragon 480, previous generation of the 4 series.

Here we have 2 high-performance Cortex-A78s running at up to 2.0 GHz, working together with 6 high-efficiency Cortex-A55s operating at up to 1.8 GHz — with the same frequencies as the predecessor, the launch must take advantage of the TSMC’s 6nm lithography and architecture enhancements to deliver more performance and efficiency. In practice, Qualcomm promises 15% gains over the Snapdragon 480.

More modest, the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 promises 15% better CPU, 10% better GPU, support for up to 108 MP cameras and more advanced connectivity (Image: Qualcomm)

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1’s Adreno GPU, also unidentified in light of the company’s new policy that has simplified data sheets, would bring a modest 10% performance upgrade, while the memory block remains similar to its predecessor, with RAM support. LPDDR4X-4266 and the same 17GB/s bandwidth.

Image signal processing is another aspect to keep, at least for the most part — as improvements, the input platform is now capable of using cameras up to 108 MP, almost double the previous model and enough to put the a novelty on the same level as some of the 6 series components.

Other than that, the novelty supports charging with Quick Charge 4 Plus and brings updated connectivity solutions with Snapdragon X51 modem and FastConnect 6200 module, boarding 5G in sub-6 and mmWave standards with download speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2 and Dual Band GPS. Unlike the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 will hit stores anytime, on phones scheduled to be announced this quarter.

Source: Qualcomm, AnandTech