Snapdragon 7 Gen 3
With the release of the blockbuster Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 behind it, Qualcomm has begun releasing its mid-range SoCs for 2024. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 (codenamed SM7550-AB), which in a sense replaces the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 and the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, is the first to ship.
It is also produced on a “4 nm” node, however Qualcomm omits to specify if Samsung Foundry or TSMC is involved in the process. Smartphones from Oppo, Vivo, ZTE, iQOO, Honor, OnePlus, Sony, Redmi, Realme, and more brands will run on the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. By the end of this month, phones from Honor and Vivo enabled by the AP will be released.
With the e-core cluster operating at 1.8 GHz, the p-core group at 2.4 GHz, and the prime core at 2.6 GHz, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 is divided into a 1+3+4 arrangement. With a max clock speed of 2.63 GHz, Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 has four efficiency cores and four exceptional performance cores.
According to the chipmaker, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 is 20% more power-efficient and 15% quicker in the CPU and GPU than the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. Strangely, it has an Adreno 720 GPU rather of the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2’s Adreno 725 GPU. As usual, Qualcomm has not disclosed the clock speed, preferring to concentrate more on its gaming-specific Snapdragon Super Resolve AI upscaling technology.
Proceeding, Qualcomm also showcases an abundance of AI-driven functionalities, such enhanced facial recognition and activity detection. The Qualcomm X63 5G modem, which supports SA/NSA systems and has a sub-6 GHz and mmWave radio, is used by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and Bluetooth Low Energies audio which supports aptX Voice, aptX Lossless, and aptX Adaptive bare additional wireless connectivity choices. It can wirelessly output music at a resolution of 44.1 KHz and 26 bits, which will delight audiophiles.
A single 200 MP picture sensor is available for usage in devices running the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 operating system. Additional combinations consist of three 21 MP sensors, a 32+ 21 MP sensor, or a single 64 MP sensor enabling 30 FPS ZSL recording. Additionally, it makes use of the NPU for AI video retouch, AI noise reduction, and AI remosaic, all of which are meant to enhance the quality of photos that are taken.
OEMs using phones powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 can utilize a 4K 60 Hz display. Since only Sony appears to be doing that, other manufacturers will probably continue to use the more standard 1080p 168 Hz or 1440p 120 Hz setups, which still support Dolby Vision and come with HDR, HDR10, and HDR10+ Ultra HDR. It can also send a 4K 60 frames per second video clip to an external display.
Support for LPDDR5 3200 and LPDDR4x 2133 memory, UFS 3.1 storage, GPS, GLONASS, NavIC, BeiDOU, and QZSS navigation protocols, and up to 16 GB of RAM are among the additional capabilities of the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3.
