Qualcomm unveiled Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 on the annual Snapdragon Tech Summit on Wednesday — as its new 5G cell platform for next-generation flagship Android telephones. The chip is the primary to come back with the brand new Snapdragon branding that’s the consequence after the San Diego-based firm introduced its 17 Snapdragon 800-series system-on-chip (SoC) fashions. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is claimed to be as much as 4 instances sooner synthetic intelligence (AI) efficiency than the Snapdragon 888 SoC launched final yr. It can also be touted to ship 30 p.c sooner graphics rendering together with 25 p.c extra energy effectivity over the predecessor. Additionally, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is claimed to be the world’s first 5G modem-RF resolution to succeed in 10 Gigabit obtain speeds on a suitable community.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 availability timeline

Just just like the previous few years, Qualcomm stated that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will probably be utilized by world smartphone distributors together with Black Shark, Honor, iQoo, Motorola, Nubia, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Redmi, Sharp, Sony, Vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE. Phones based mostly on the brand new chip are anticipated by the tip of 2021, the corporate famous.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 specs

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will probably be outfitted with the seventh Gen Qualcomm AI Engine that’s rated to have two instances bigger shared reminiscence together with a two instances sooner tensor accelerator to ship a greater per-watt efficiency over the sixth Gen Qualcomm AI Engine out there on the Snapdragon 888. The new chip will even be based mostly on a 4nm course of know-how. This is an improve over the 5nm course of know-how that was utilized by Snapdragon 888 final yr.

Qualcomm has not but revealed the precise names of the Kryo CPU and Adreno GPU out there on its new chip. However, the Kryo CPU significantly has Arm Cortex-X2 cores that may be clocked as much as 3GHz. The CPU is claimed 20 sooner efficiency and 30 p.c energy effectivity over its counterpart out there on the Snapdragon 888. The new Adreno GPU can also be rated to ship a 30 p.c enhance in graphics rendering and 25 p.c enchancment in energy saving compared with its predecessor.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 delivers up to 30 p.c enhance in graphics rendering over Snapdragon 888
Photo Credit: Qualcomm

For an enhanced synthetic intelligence (AI) expertise, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has a Qualcomm Hexagon processor that’s out there as part of the AI Engine. The chip additionally has built-in Leica Leitz Look filters for an enhanced bokeh impact. Further, there may be an AI-based pure language processing from machine studying neighborhood Hugging Face. It is claimed to assist allow a definite private help expertise by analysing and prioritising your notifications.

Qualcomm stated that it additionally labored with Boston, Massachusetts-based well being tech firm Sonde Health that can enable the system to analyse a person’s vocal patterns to find out if a person is in danger for well being circumstances resembling bronchial asthma, despair, and even COVID-19. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 can also be paired with a third Gen Qualcomm Snapdragon Hub that’s claimed to course of the information streams utilizing low-power AI.

In phrases of gaming, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has over 50 Snapdragon Elite Gaming options to assist present a easy and responsive expertise together with colour-rich HDR scenes. The firm claims that it has built-in a Variable Rate Shading Pro function to supply a desktop-level volumetric rendering to ship reasonable fog, smoke, and particle results.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 contains 50 Snapdragon Elite Gaming options to please avid gamers
Photo Credit: Qualcomm

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 additionally contains an enhanced safety utilizing a devoted Trust Management Engine. This can also be claimed to supply root of belief for apps and companies put in on the system. Additionally, the brand new Snapdragon chip has Android Ready SE customary for digital automobile keys and drivers’ licences.

To assist individuals join with mobile networks with out a SIM card, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 has the Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit with help for built-in SIM (iSIM).

The new Snapdragon cell platform additionally has Snapdragon Sound Technology together with Qualcomm aptX Lossless Technology for an enhanced audio expertise. There are additionally new low-energy (LE) options resembling broadcast audio, stereo recording, and voice back-channel for gaming.

Qualcomm has built-in its Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System inside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 that’s designed to succeed in 10 Gigabit obtain speeds. The new chip has additionally retained the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 Mobile Connectivity System that brings wi-fi connectivity with as much as 3.6Gbps speeds over Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E requirements. There can also be Bluetooth v5.2 help.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 comes with Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System
Photo Credit: Qualcomm

The different notable addition to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is Snapdragon Sight Technology that brings the primary 18-bit picture sign processor (ISP). This is claimed to seize over 4,000 instances extra digital camera information than its predecessor for top dynamic vary, color, and sharpness at speeds of as much as 3.2 gigapixels per second. The new ISP additionally helps 8K HDR video recording within the premium HDR10+ format. Further, there’s a devoted Bokeh Engine for including mushy backgrounds to movies. There can also be an Always-on ISP that permits always-on face unlocking, with out consuming a considerable amount of battery.

Other specs and options of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 are principally in step with its predecessor. These embody help for as much as 4K and QHD+ shows with as much as 144Hz refresh charge, LPDDR5 RAM with a frequency of as much as 3200MHz and density of as much as 16GB, and Quick Charge 5 quick charging.

Alongside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, Qualcomm on the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2021 introduced its partnership with Google Cloud to spice up its neural community improvement and construct in addition to optimise AI fashions. The collaboration will allow Qualcomm Neural Processing SDK to have the Google Cloud Vertex AI NAS integration.

The new expertise will probably be first out there on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, although it’ll later be expanded throughout Qualcomm’s portfolio. The chipmaker stated that its Snapdragon cell, ACPC and XR, Snapdragon Ride Platform, and IoT platforms will have the ability to utilise Google Cloud Vertex AI Neural Architecture Search with the Qualcomm AI Engine on account of its partnership with Google.