Snapdragon 8s Gen 3: Qualcomm presents new SoC with on-device AI

With the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, Qualcomm has just unveiled a new mobile platform for Android smartphones. This is positioned between the 8 Gen 2 from 2022 and the current top-of-the-range Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 model and is set to make significant gains, particularly in terms of the generative AI functions on the device.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 in detail

Qualcomm intends to use the new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 mobile platform to power smartphones from manufacturers such as Honor, iQOO, realme, Redmi and Xiaomi in the coming months. These should benefit from the new chip’s advanced capabilities, particularly in the areas of generative on-device AI, photography and gaming.

The “little brother” of the current flagship chip Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 should offer significantly more performance compared to its predecessor from the s series. It is manufactured by TSMC using the 4 nm process and relies on a current ARM CPU configuration.

The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 combines an ARM Cortex-X4 with 3.0 GHz, four Cortex-A720 with 2.8 GHz and three Cortex-A520 with 2.0 GHz. Connoisseurs will notice that the clock rates are slightly lower than in the current top model Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and that one performance core has been replaced by an additional efficiency core.

Even the graphics unit in the form of the Adreno 735 GPU cannot quite keep up with the top model with the number 750, but dates back to the previous year. However, it is supposed to work more efficiently, but does without more advanced ray tracing functions. However, hardware-accelerated ray tracing is still included and should boost mobile games.

Focus on generative AI

The new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 should be able to keep up with the top model without the “s” in its name, especially when it comes to AI performance. The new chip is capable of on-device AI and can handle a wide range of AI models, including popular language models (LLM) such as Baichuan-7B, Llama 2 and Gemini Nano, with up to 10 million parameters.

At the same time, the chip relies on Lossless High-Definition Sound including LE Audio with Auracast support, a fast Snapdragon X70 5G modem including Wi-Fi 7 and a powerful ISP for convincing photos.

In addition to the improved AI functions, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 focuses primarily on increased efficiency compared to its predecessor.

The first smartphones with the new processor are set to be released in the coming months. The cheaper chips should allow Snapdragon 8-level performance at a lower price. We are certainly looking forward to seeing how the first devices with the new SoC will perform. Further details and specifications can be found on Qualcomm’s website.