As expected, Qualcomm today announced the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform targeting flagship Android smartphones.
The main highlight of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is its AI capabilities. Qualcomm claims that the updated Hexagon processor including micro tile inferencing and a bigger tensor accelerator offers up to 4.35X increased AI performance. It now supports INT4—a new AI precision format—with 60% performance/watt improvement for sustained AI inferencing. Also, the Qualcomm Sensing Hub now packs dual AI processors.
When it comes to camera experiences, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 automatically enhances photos and videos in real time with semantic segmentation. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is also tuned to support new image sensors from Sony Semiconductor Solutions and Samsung. Also, it now supports AV1 codec and video playback up to 8K HDR at 60 frames per second.
Other highlights of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2:
- Snapdragon Elite Gaming: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 debuts new Snapdragon Elite Gaming features, including real time hardware-accelerated ray tracing that delivers life-like light, reflections, and illuminations to mobile games. The upgraded Qualcomm Adreno GPU delivers up to 25% faster performance* and the Qualcomm Kryo CPU enables up to 40% more power efficiency, so users can achieve champion-level gameplay with longer battery life. Gamers will also be able to experience photorealistic human characters in their games with the world’s first mobile optimized support for Unreal Engine 5 Metahumans Framework on Snapdragon.
- Snapdragon Connect: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is the world’s most advanced 5G platform, boasting unparalleled connectivity from 5G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Featuring the Snapdragon X70 5G Modem-RF System with Qualcomm 5G AI Processor, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 harnesses the power of AI to enable breakthrough 5G upload and download speeds, coverage, latency, and power efficiency. This is the first Snapdragon platform to support 5G+5G/4G Dual-SIM Dual-Active, which harnesses the power and flexibility of two 5G SIMs at once. This ultra-advanced platform also features the Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 connectivity system, offering the lowest latency Wi-Fi 7 and dual Bluetooth connectivity for sustained immersion. High Band Simultaneous Multi-Link enables peak Wi-Fi 7 performance globally allowing for smooth, blazing connections when streaming, gaming, and more. ​
- Snapdragon Sound: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 supports Snapdragon Sound technology for premium and immersive music, calls, and gaming. It features spatial audio with dynamic head-tracking for complete surround-sound immersion and support for 48kHz lossless music streaming so every detail of music sounds like the artist intended. Gamers can stay in the moment with the lowest-ever latency at 48ms, made even better by a built-in voice backchannel for crystal-clear communication to and from other players. ​
- Snapdragon Secure: The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform is safeguarded with Snapdragon Secure, offering the latest in isolation, cryptography, key management, attestation, and more—all intricately designed to protect users’ data and privacy. This premium level of protection limits the exposure and exploitation of data on devices powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.​
Qualcomm confirmed that Samsung, ASUS Republic of Gamers, HONOR, iQOO, Motorola, nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, REDMAGIC, Redmi, SHARP, Sony Corporation, vivo, Xiaomi, XINGJI/MEIZU, and ZTE will be releasing devices based on Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform in the coming months. Some of the devices will be available by end of this year.
