Qualcomm Snapdragon G Series Chips Arrive To Power Next-Gen Gaming Handhelds
If you're not a big gamer, you may have been perplexed at the recent preponderance of portable gaming PCs in handheld game system form. We could talk at length about why they've exploded in popularity *now*, but that's not why you clicked on this article. Instead, you're here to read about Qualcomm's new Snapdragon G Series SoCs that are tailored specifically for use in that kind of handheld gaming device.
Qualcomm announced the new chips today at GDC, the Game Developers Conference. There are three chips coming: the Snapdragon G1 Gen 2, G2 Gen 2, and G3 Gen 3. All three of them pair some combination of performance and efficiency cores with Adreno integrated GPUs and built-in wireless connectivity, although their capabilities aren't uniform across the line. Let's pull out a chart laying out the specs, as we have them:
Obviously the star of the show is the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, which boasts a state of the art GPU that Qualcomm specifically calls out as having support for "Unreal Engine 5 Lumen Global Illumination & Reflections." That's a key feature in a world where many modern games are using Unreal Engine, including hotly-anticipated titles like The Witcher 4 and, supposedly, a full remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Based on the specs that Qualcomm gave us, the Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 looks very similar to the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, but we suspect it has significant cuts to clock rates and perhaps to the GPU shader count. Qualcomm positions it as "the best midrange Android gaming experience." Finally, the Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 is a considerably weaker processor that Qualcomm says is purpose-built for cloud gaming and game streaming. We've been impressed by game streaming over LAN in the past, and a low-power device like this could be perfect for that.
Qualcomm is tight-lipped on the kinds of specific hardware specifications we tend to prefer in the PC hardware world, like clocks, caches, and GPU core counts, but one key detail of all three of these chips is that they are based on Qualcomm's Kryo CPU cores rather than the company's potent Oryon design. That doesn't bode well for the CPU performance of these SoCs in comparison to the latest chips from x86 vendors (never mind Apple), but in games, CPU performance is often less important than GPU and memory speed, so we're confident these chips can deliver plenty satisfying gaming experiences—likely with excellent battery life.
Indeed, Qualcomm says it has multiple design wins for these parts already, including a couple of classy new devices from PC handheld trailblazer Ayaneo. The Ayaneo Pocket S2 is the successor to the company's first Snapdragon-based handheld, and the Ayaneo Gaming Pad is a larger device with an 8.3" screen and CNC machined "full-metal midframe". OneXPlayer is making an intriguing dual-screen handheld with a Snapdragon G chip known as the OneXSugar, and then retro hardware manufacturer Retroid has a system called the "Retroid Pocket PR Classic" based on a G1 Gen 2 part that looks deeply inspired by the original DMG-01 Game Boy.
As of today, all of these chips are "available," although obviously you won't be buying them directly. Instead, devices with these chips should go up for preorder this month, including the aforementioned Ayaneo Pocket S2 as well as the Retroid Pocket PR Classic. We're looking at getting one of these devices in-house to put it head-to-head against PC-based gaming handhelds, so stay tuned to HotHardware!
