There could be a new era of flagship killers on the horizon, powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3. This new chipset doubles down on the company’s focus on AI, further integrating generative AI on the device and could power smarter phones from can drive the middle segment. of challenging their powerful flagship counterparts.
Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 offers significant improvements by expanding on the AI features of the previous Snapdragon 7 series, including some of the advanced AI technology from the premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, used in some of the best android phones seen so far this year. These improvements include enhanced photography features, advanced gaming technology, and support for a wide range of AI models.
While cloud-based AIs like Chat GPT can handle complex tasks, they require a constant internet connection to work. However, on-device AI, which can be powered by recent high-end Snapdragon chips, is better for tasks like voice and image recognition, natural language processing and providing smart filters in photo editing apps. On-board AI can also deliver more practical day-to-day performance improvements and longer battery life by fine-tuning software and running apps, predicting battery status and optimizing charging.
With the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3, Qualcomm notes that on-device AI can generate original images or text and improve users’ AI assistant and provide faster and more accurate language translation than before.
The new chip’s AI integration can also improve photography. The 18-bit cognitive image signal processor (ISP) uses something called ‘semantic segmentation‘, which uses AI to identify specific elements in a scene, such as faces, clothing and backgrounds. It then allows individual optimization of the color, tone, sharpness and noise reduction of each element.
The Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 also now supports 18-bit color instead of 12-bit, offering a wider range of colors displayed, creating smoother gradients, subtler variations, and more realistic photos.
Level gaming
Built on a 4-nanomer process node, the new Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 offers a 15% improvement in CPU performance and a 5% improvement in power efficiency, compared to its predecessor. The chip features a powerful Cortex-X4 CPU running at 2.8 GHz, supported by four performance and three efficiency cores. Gamers will note that the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3’s Adreno GPU offers a 45% performance boost over last year’s model.
The Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 will carry over select Snapdragon Elite Gaming features used in the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. These include cinematic effects such as bloom, depth of field and motion blur to deliver what Qulcoom claims to be “desktop-level visuals.” Qualcomm also says that the Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.0 feature makes it possible to double frame rates from 60 to 120 FPS without affecting battery life.
Thanks to the addition of Wi-Fi 7 support, the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 can achieve download speeds of up to 5.8 Gbps, almost double the previous model. While its X63 5G modem is only slightly behind this with a maximum speed of 4.2 Gbps. The faster internet speeds ensure responsiveness and eliminate stuttering for a smoother gaming experience.
Gamers and non-gamers alike will also benefit from the chip’s optimization for low-latency smartphone-to-earbud audio and enhanced spatial audio, which supports head tracking, making games and movies more immersive.
What could this mean for mid-range phones?
Qualcomm has announced that OnePlus, Realme and Sharp will be the first devices to use the new Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 chip, expected to be announced in the coming months.
AI improvements like those implemented on the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 could potentially revolutionize mid-range smartphones and bring them out of the shadows of phones with premium chips. Incorporating AI can improve performance, photography, gaming and productivity, challenging the flagship’s dominance.
Expanding AI improvements on mid-range devices could bring tools like real-time translation, note-taking, personalized recommendations, and intelligent automation to a broader audience, potentially lowering the barrier to entry to AI tools, which could benefit those with limited access to premium devices.
At the very least, the spread of AI in mid-range phones will bring flagship-like intelligent features to more people at a more affordable price.