What is the most powerful and stable chip on Android devices right now? If your answer is Qualcomm Snadragon 8 Gen 3, you really don't keep up with current technology developments. For the past five years, the brand "Snapdragon" has been synonymous with high performance without any issues causing the use of the device to be problematic.
The Snapdragon name is strong enough now that it is one of the main questions when a new device is launched. The best example is when the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ were launched a few weeks ago, quite a few people were disappointed because they didn't come with a Snapdragon chip.
The strength of their chips lies not only in CPU and GPU performance. Among other important features among users is whether the battery lasts long and whether there is a heating problem when in use. Exynos can achieve the same level of performance but at higher temperatures. So is Dimensity but they sacrifice battery life.
The "dominance" of Snapdragon in the year of the Dragon 2024 is not just limited to smartphones. This year the majority of the VR/XR headsets that will be launched will use the Snapdragon XR family of chips. The Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip launched a month ago has been confirmed to be used in Samsung headsets developed in collaboration with Qualcomm and Google. It is an improvement over the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 currently used in the Meta Quest 3.
For those who don't need an expensive (and heavy) headset, smart glasses use the Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip series. The Ray-Ban Meta is a great example of how smart glasses with a Snapdragon AR chip are useful accessories and more importantly don't make you look as silly as Apple Vision Pro owners who use their heads while driving, riding motorcycles and walking in public.
But in my opinion the most anticipated product is the Snapdragon X Elite which will start to be used on PCs in the second half of this year. It's Apple Silicon's long-awaited answer. After the Snapdragon CX chip failed to realize the dream of creating a powerful Windows ARM computer, the capabilities of the Snapdragon X Elite that I saw for myself in Hawaii last year gave new hope.
Windows on ARM needs a chip that can give Apple Silicon competition. Although I am a MacBook user with Apple Silicon, I want Windows 11 users to receive the same experience. Who doesn't want a powerful laptop to do heavy work with a battery that can last all day? Competition is good for everyone.
2024 will almost certainly be the year of the Snapdragon dragon. The year 2025 is the year of the snake. We need a ferocious Snapdragon this year so that Apple doesn't continue to be satiated because it's been three years without being aggressively challenged by competitors. Happy Chinese New Year. May we all be "huat ah" and be able to buy devices with powerful chips next year.