Summary: Qualcomm announced a new processor, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. This chip uses older Kryo cores, instead of Qualcomm’s Oryon ones. It does offer a massive performance bump of 49% compared to its predecessor and has a very nice set of specs and features.
Qualcomm has just announced its new processor, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. You’ll notice that the ‘Elite’ part is missing from its name, as this is not the company’s flagship chip, it’s not the equivalent to the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is official, but it doesn’t use Oryon cores
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 does not use Oryon cores. That could also be a reason for a different name. This chip is a direct successor to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, and it uses the same 4nm manufacturing process. It also makes use of Kryo cores instead of Qualcomm’s Oryon cores.
Despite all that, however, this chip offers a 49% performance boost compared to its predecessor, which is quite significant. It also offers Wi-Fi 7 support, and support for Bluetooth 6.0, LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0.
Something else notable that is missing, however, is mmWave 5G support. Not many will consider that a major tradeoff here, but it sure is worth noting.
The fastest core runs at 3.2GHz
Qualcomm opted for a 1+3+2+2 setup here, cores-wise. The fastest core (Cortex X4) that the chip has is running at 3.2GHz. Performance cores (Cortex A720, three of them) work at 3.0GHz. Half of the remaining four Cortex A720 cores work at 2.80GHz, while the other half runs at 2.0GHz.
Qualcomm opted for the Adreno 825 GPU here. UFS 3.1 Gen 2 support is also included. Qualcomm’s Spectra ISP is included too, while 4K HDR video recording at 60 FPS is supported. The same goes for 1080p slo-mo video capture at 480 FPS.
This chip also supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 5.0, display resolutions up to WQHD+ with 144Hz refresh rate, and external display support up to 4K at 60 FPS. Qualcomm’s 3D Sonic and 3D Sonic Max ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanners are also supported.
2025-04-02 15:05:26