Qualcomm has finally announced the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. The reason behind this new chipset is to give a great performance but for a lower cost when compared to its elder sibling. However, many people are still left wondering the difference between these two chipsets, especially when there is very little way of naming that can differentiate them.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 looks just as capable as its elder brother
So, how is the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 different from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 that has been powering all the flagships currently in the market? Well, despite the similarities in the name, both chipsets have some differences, and we are going to take a look at all of them below.
The simplest answer would be that the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is a cut-down version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Qualcomm has claimed that it is made specifically for the more affordable devices that are still capable of delivering flagship-grade performance.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 comes with one less high-performance core when compared to its elder sibling. However, it is made by using the same fabrication process as its elder sibling. There are some differences, though. For instance, the flagship killer chipset has one prime Cortex-X4 CPU core clocked at 3GHz, four Cortex A-720 running at 2.8GHz, and three Cortex A-520 CPU cores at 2GHz. You can have a look at the table below to see how these two chipsets differ from each other.
| Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 |
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
|
||
| Fabrication Tech | 4nm TSMC | 4nm TSMC | |
| CPU (Prime Cores) | 1x Cortex-X4 @ 3.0GHz |
1x Cortex-X4 @ 3.3GHz
|
|
| CPU (Big Cores) | 4x Cortex-A720 @ 2.8GHz |
3x Cortex-720 @ 3.15GHz
2x Cortex-720 @ 2.96GHz |
|
| CPU (Small Cores) | 3x Cortex-A520 @ 2.0GHz |
2x Cortex-A520 @ 2.3GHz
|
|
| RAM | LPDDR5x 4,200MHz |
LPDDR5x 4,800MHz
|
|
| Storage | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4.0 | |
| USB | USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) |
USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps)
|
|
| GPU | Adreno 735 | Adreno 750 | |
| Cellular Modem | X70 5G | X75 5G | |
| ISP | Triple 18-Bit Spectra |
Triple 18-Bit Spectra
|
|
| Video | 4K HDR @ 60fps 1080p @ 240fps |
8K HDR @ 30fps
4K @ 120fp |
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 brings five performance CPU cores and three efficiency CPU cores. In comparison, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has six performance cores and two efficiency cores. There is also a difference in the GPU used here, as the former uses an Adreno 735 instead of the Adreno 750. The Adreno 735 does not come with a global illumination effect.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 also has slightly underclocked RAM. The chipset can go as high as 24 gigs of LPDDR5X RAM running at 4,200 MHz instead of 4,800 MHz of its older sibling. The ISP on the chipset is also capable of recording only up to 4K/60FPS video in HDR and does not have support for 8K/30FPS or 4K/120FPS video. Moving further, the new chipset is using the Snapdragon X70 modem instead of the X75 found in the bigger brother. This modem has a peak cellular download speed of 5Gbps instead of 10Gbps.
So, there you have it. The new budget chipset is much like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, but there are compromises. I do hope that these compromises do not translate into anything negative, but from the looks of it, that is highly unlikely. I believe that the chipset is going to be excellent for gaming and handling other day-to-day tasks, and you might not feel the difference all that much. With the chipset now out, we should start seeing phones packing this in no time, and we will be sure to give you all the information that we receive.
About the author: I have been tinkering with Android devices ever since the early days of the HTC Desire. Over time, I have grown a fondness for the ecosystem and now I cannot live without it. Although some might believe that I have sold my soul to Android, but I believe it is not the case. You can find me writing tutorials and posting guides on a number of different smartphones. When I am not writing here, I am wasting myself away in books, journals, or on Steam.
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