Qualcomm has announced a new mid-range 7-series chipset, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3. Going by the name, this sounds like the most powerful chipset under the 7-series, but that might not be the case. That’s because, at the launch, Qualcomm compared this chipset with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, not the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2.
This is not the first time Qualcomm has confused us with the naming. In fact, in September, we got the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, which, going by the name, sounds like it is better than the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. But, in reality, this chip sits below the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 in performance.
Coming back to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, Qualcomm claims a 15% faster CPU, 50% faster GPU, 60% improved AI performance per watt, and 20% better power savings than the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1.
The chip has some upgrades over the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2, such as the improved X63 5G Modem (versus X62), which offers peak download speeds up to 5Gbps (versus 4.4Gbps). The new chip also supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 standard.
The GPU is reportedly the Adreno 720, compared to Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2’s Adreno 725. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 has a CPU clocked at up to 2.63GHz, compared to the 2.91GHz CPU of the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2.
So, the conclusion is the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 is still the king when it comes to the most powerful 7-series chip by Qualcomm. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 sits between the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 and the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 in terms of performance.
Qualcomm says the first smartphones with Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 are launching later this month, with Honor & Vivo being the first to use this chip in their phones.