Admittedly, it's a bit of a dry topic when it comes to new smartphone processors seeing the light of day. Nevertheless, we would like to inform you at this point about two new system-on-a-chip (SoC) that Qualcomm has now introduced. Because these are chipsets that will be used in numerous mobile phone flagships from established manufacturers and in new smartphones in the upper middle class in the coming months. This is hardware that you will potentially use in the future.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 – New smartphone top processor
Qualcomm presented the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 at the end of 2021. This is currently the fastest processor for premium smartphones. And that's exactly what gets an upgrade with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The manufacturer promises, among other things, a 10 percent increase in speed. In detail, the CPU cluster, which is divided into three areas, provides three Cortex-A710 and four Cortex-A510 cores in addition to a Cortex-X2 core. So far, however, Qualcomm has only given a specific speed for the X2 core of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. It clocks at up to 3.2 GHz. For comparison: The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 only has a peak of up to 3 GHz.
Qualcomm also promises a ten percent higher clock frequency for the graphics unit (Adreno GPU). However, it is at least as important that the manufacturer says it has succeeded in reducing the power consumption compared to the predecessor. On average, Qualcomm speaks of a 15 percent better energy balance for the SoC. Another important change: the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 will continue to be produced using the 4 nm process, but no longer by Samsung, but by TSMC.
With regard to the supported mobile phone displays, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 not only supports 4K panels with a refresh rate of up to 60 Hz, but even up to 144 Hz for QHD+ panels. The first end devices with the new processor should be available in the third quarter of 2022 come into trade. Among others from Xiaomi, OnePlus, Asus and Oppo.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 – For the upper middle class
Qualcomm has also presented the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 for smartphones in the upper middle class. As the successor to the Snapdragon 780G 5G, it stays at the top with up to 2.4GHz CPU speed. However, it is still unclear how the individual processor clusters are divided up. What is certain is that the new 7 Series from the Snapdragon family is primarily optimized for mobile gaming and also supports a resolution of up to 200 megapixels for built-in cameras.
Honor, Oppo and Xiaomi are said to be among the first manufacturers who want to offer smartphones based on the new SoC. But Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme and Vivo are also among those customers who have at least declared their intention to buy the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 for future cell phones from Qualcomm. The first smartphones based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 should be available in the course of the second quarter of 2022, i.e. by the end of June.
New reference design for AR glasses
This is how Qualcomm introduces new, modern AR glasses.
Qualcomm developed the so-called Wireless AR Smart Viewer together with Goertek. The AR glasses should also be an example of how access to the Metaverse could take place in the future. Qualcomm and Goertek rely on two micro-OLED display panels with full HD resolution for the new AR glasses. The refresh rate should be 90 Hz. Two monochrome cameras and one RGB camera enable head tracking with six degrees of freedom (6DoF) and hand tracking with gesture recognition.
Qualcomm has not yet given any information as to when the first products that take up the reference design of the Wireless AR Smart Viewer could be on the market.
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