Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 Aims To Turn Midrange Phones Into Multimedia Beasts
Qualcomm today unveiled the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, its newest 7-series chipset to give midrange phones a jolt in several key areas. According to Qualcomm, it delivers performance gains across the board—27% increase in CPU performance, 30% faster GPU performance, and a beastly 65% uplift in AI workloads—resulting in what the firm is calling a "multimedia powerhouse."
Those claimed performance gains are in comparison to the previous generation Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. Qualcomm's newest system-on-chip (SoC) is built on TSMC's 4-nanometer manufacturing process and features a 64-bit Kyro CPU foundation in a 1-4-3 cluster. More precisely, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 wields a single Prime core clocked at up to 2.8GHZ, four Performance cores clocked at up to 2.4GHz, and three Efficiency cores clocked at up to 1.84GHz.
This configuration is flanked by an Adreno GPU. Rounding out the core hardware specifications is support for LPDDR5X-4200 memory and UFS 4.0 storage, the amounts of which will vary by handset.
Qualcomm's also touting modern amenities like Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, Bluetooth 6.0 support, and Snapdragon Sound for high-resolution, lossless audio streaming. And of course there's 5G connectivity, including for sub-6GHz.
"With the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 Mobile Platform, we are delivering new levels of possibilities in the 7-series with AI-driven experiences built directly into the hardware, making it easier than ever for users to capture, create, and share," said Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handsets at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "Backed by Snapdragon Sound technology and packed with premium audio technologies, including the first-ever support for Qualcomm Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN) technology outside the 8-series, this platform brings cutting-edge multimedia experiences to a broader audience."
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 also supports on-device displays of up to WQHD+ at 144Hz, and external displays of up to 4K at 60Hz. Additionally, it embraces several HDR standards, including HDR10, HDR10_, and HDR Vivid.
For taking photos, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 boats a triple 12-bit Spectra Image Signal Processor (ISP) capable of driving a single 200-megapixel camera and 10-bit color support. Auto-focus, auto-exposure, auto white balance, hardware electronic image stabilization, and massive multi--frame noise reduction are part of the package too.
Qualcomm says Honor and Vivo are getting first dibs on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, with devices expected to be announced this month.
