TechPhonesAndroid PhonesAndroid phones could suddenly be even cheaper following major announcementQualcomm’s Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 is designed to be high-end but less costly to phone-makers producing Android handsetsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechPhonesAndroid PhonesAndroid phones could suddenly be even cheaper following major announcementQualcomm’s Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 is designed to be high-end but less costly to phone-makers producing Android handsetsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 is designed to be high-end but less costly to phone-makers producing Android handsets
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Motorola)
(Image credit: Motorola)
It was in late October of last year that a major announcement showed us the future of whatthe best Android phoneswould be able to offer: out in Hawaii at its annual Snapdragon Summit conference,Qualcomm revealed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 platformto the world. And, you guessed it, now there’s another new big reveal.
Well, not quite as big, rather a new tier to the platform from the chip-maker which gives potential for Android flagships of the near future to be even cheaper. How so? It’s down to the all-new Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 – don’t blink or you’ll miss that all-important ‘S’ in the name – which has just been revealed (although not from sunny island climes).
Snapdragon 8S Gen 3: what’s different?
(Image credit: Qualcomm)
(Image credit: Qualcomm)
The Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 is designed to sit above theyear-and-a-bit-old Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but below the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 proper. It’s ultimately designed to slip into that gap in the market where manufacturers want to offer the utmost – but without passing on the biggest costs to their customers.
That new structure doesn’t prevent offering the majority of same features, though, from camera to artificial intelligence (AI), to gaming. The NPU (neural processing unit) on board Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 means on-device AI processes are possible, which is what many manufacturers are really pushing in 2024. Qualcomm has teased plenty of examples already, too, and we’ve seen increasing real examples, such asCircle to Search from Google.
(Image credit: Qualcomm)
(Image credit: Qualcomm)
Swipe to scroll horizontallyRow 0 - Cell 0Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Snapdragon 8S Gen 3Prime Core:1x 3.2GHz1x 3.0GHzPerformance Cores:5x 3.2GHz4x 2.8GHzEfficiency Cores:2x 2.3GHz3x 2.0GHzGPU:Adreno 750Adreno 735Memory interface:4.8GBps max4.2GBps max
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0Snapdragon 8 Gen 3Snapdragon 8S Gen 3Prime Core:1x 3.2GHz1x 3.0GHzPerformance Cores:5x 3.2GHz4x 2.8GHzEfficiency Cores:2x 2.3GHz3x 2.0GHzGPU:Adreno 750Adreno 735Memory interface:4.8GBps max4.2GBps max
Which phones will have Snapdragon 8S Gen 3?
(Image credit: Qualcomm)
(Image credit: Qualcomm)
While the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 reveal also came with the message that “Asus, Honor, iQOO, Meizu, NIO, Nubia, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Redmi, RedMagic, Sony, Vivo, Xiaomi, ZTE” would be partners, there’s no such specific message regarding the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 announcement.
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That ultimately means we’re guessing as to which manufacturers will drive this kind of chipset tier into their devices. Roughly speaking, however, we’re likely talking those products in the £/$500-800 range, the kind of sub-flagships that Motorola, OnePlus and other makers are renowned for making.
That’s where price is king – although for now we’ll have to wait and see what comes of this new chipset and its targets. While having an ‘S’ variant in lower-grade Snapdragon processors has made sense in the past, adding it to the flagship tier may only confused customers – especially if a higher-spec ‘plus’ variant arrives in the near future…
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