Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 was officially launched today as a 4nm mid-range chip that has the ability to run generative artificial intelligence (AI) on devices. Although it is a chip from the Snapdragon 7 class, in terms of specifications it is more similar to the Snapdragon 8 series.
This is because the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 uses eight with a 1+4+3 Kryo CPU cluster configuration as well as the latest Adreno GPU. The main core of the Cortex-X4 CPU works at a speed of 2.8 GHz, 4x CPU Cortex-A720 at 2.6 GHz, and 3x CPU Cortex-A520 at a speed of 1.9 GHz.
The CPU specs are almost the same as the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 just with a lower CPU speed. Another difference is that the 7+ Gen 3 comes with an Adreno 732 GPU instead of the Adreno 735 like on the 8s Gen 3.
Through the use of a new CPU, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 offers an increase of up to 15% on the CPU, 45% on the GPU and energy consumption efficiency has increased by 5% compared to the previous generation chip. This makes it the most powerful mid-range chip produced by Qualcomm to date. Also available is LPDDR5X memory as well as speedy UFS 4.0 storage.
The modem system is just a Snapdragon X63 5G that supports downloads up to 4.2Gbps instead of the Snapdragon X70 5G used on the 8s Gen 3. Devices with this chip still support fast WiFi 7 and the Snapdragon Sound spatial audio system.
Improvements are given to camera capabilities with up to 200MP sensor support. For the first time in the Snapdragon 7 series, it is equipped with Spectra Cognitive Triple 18-bit ISP that allows all three cameras on the device to be used simultaneously. The ability to shoot images in 18-bit RAW and Ultra HDR modes is also included.
The emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities is the same as the NPU allows models such as Baichuan-7B, Llama 2, Gemini Nano and Zhipu ChatGLM to be run directly from devices without an internet connection.
The earliest device confirmed to use the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 is the yet-to-be-announced OnePlus release. In addition, Realme and SHARP will also offer devices with this chip in the near future.