The new Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 has a major upgrade to its predecessor and arrives as a departure from the previous design of the series. It has been improved in all key areas: performance, efficiency, gaming, AI, cameras and audio.
The Gen 4 chip will be the first in TSMC’s 4nm node series Fabbed. The previous generation used Samsung 4nm nodes and 6nm nodes from TSMC.
This generation used an ARMV9-based CPU core (cortex-A720 (2.3GHz)) as prime core, and three A720 (2.2GHz) as big cores and four cortical A520 (1.8GHz). It is the first generation. Small core. Previous generations used the ARMV8 design (cortex-A78/A55).
The performance boost compared to the Gen 3 chip is interesting. Despite the generational upgrades of CPU design, CPU uplift is only 11% (measured with Geekbench 5.2 single thread).
The new Adreno GPU offers a 29% increase in performance and brings about greater improvements. Qualcomm is mom for details on GPU, but that’s a big boost. The new tip is also 12% more efficient than its predecessor.
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is the first in the family that supports INT4. This allows for an optimized model where more parameters can fit in a limited amount of RAM. For example, Qualcomm is working on text summary AI. The company said there is a minimum memory requirement to run LLMS on the device, but it did not get an exact number.
The chipset supports up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM (up to 3,200MHz), and LPDDR4X (2,133MHz) is also an inexpensive design option. For storage, the chip supports UFS 3.1. Wired connections also support USB-C 3.1, which can drive external displays with up to 4K @ 60Hz, 10-bit colors, and HDR10+.
For the device itself, the 6 Gen 4 chip can drive the display up to 1080p+ resolution and a refresh rate of up to 144hz. The mobile GPU gets pages from the desktop counterpart, and this Adreno has the super resolution of Snapdragon games (upscaling games at up to 4K) and Adreno frame motion engine (double frame rates while still providing power consumption. It supports keeping it low.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 Snapdragon 7S Gen 3 Node Samsung 4NM TSMC 4NM TSMC 4NM CPU, PRIME-1X CORTEX-A720 @ 2.3GHz 1X cortex-A720 @ 2.5GHz CPU, Big 4X CORTEX-A78 @ 2.4GHZ 3x 3x Cortex -cortex- A720 @2.2GHz 3X Cortex-A720 @2.4GHz CPU, Small 4X Cortex-A55 @1.8GHz 4x 4x cortex-A520 @1.8GHz 4x cortex-A520 @1.8GHz GPU Adreno 710 +29% Performance Vs. Gen 3 Adreno 810 RAM UP RAM UP RAM UP RAM UP 12GB
LPDDR5 3,200MHz
LPDDR4X Up to 2,133MHz, up to 16GB
LPDDR5 3,200MHz
LPDDR4X Up to 2,133MHz, up to 16GB
LPDDR5 3,200MHz
LPDDR4X 2,133MHz Storage UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1 UFS 3.1 Up to 1080p+ @ 120Hz Display 1080P+ @ 144Hz Max 1080p+ @ 144Hz 5G Sub 6GHz, mmwave
2.9GBPS sub 6GHz, mmwave
2.9GBPS sub 6GHz, mmwave
2.9gbps Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 6e Wi-Fi 6e Wi-Fi 6e Bluetooth 5.2 5.4 5.4 USB-C 3.1 USB-C 3.1 USB-C 3.1 ISP 3X 12-bit 3X 12-bit 3X 12-bit camera 200mp, 48MP Zero Shutter Lug 200MP, 64MP Zero Shutter Lug 200MP, 64MP Zero Shutter Lug Video 4K HDR @ 30FPS (HLG) 4K HDR @ 30FPS (HLG, HDR10) + Quick Charge 4+
For cameras, the chip has a triple 12-bit ISP that supports sensors up to 200mp. You can record video in up to 4K HDR, but at that resolution the frame rate limit is 30fps. HDR10 and HLG formats are supported with 10-bit HEIF for photos in video. H.265 and VP9 playback has hardware acceleration (but no AV1).
The connection section is quite familiar. The 5G modem supports sub-6GHz (4×4 MIMO) and MMWave (2×2 MIMO) and downlink speeds up to 2.9Gbps. The Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) is supported, along with Aptx Adaptive, as well as Bluetooth 5.4 (including the 6GHz band). The GPS receiver supports triple frequency positioning (L1/L5/L2).
Realme, Oppo and Honor will be one of the first smartphone makers to launch devices based on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4. There is no exact timing. We’ll hear more “in the next few months.” I’ve heard that India will be one of the first markets to see new chipsets. Apparently, device manufacturers are targeting surprisingly low price ranges between $100 and $150.
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