The News: Qualcomm recently introduced new updates to its 7 Series (formerly 700) and 8 Series (formerly 800) Snapdragon Mobile Platform, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, targeted at the premium and high-ends of the Android Smartphone market offering uses richer gaming and near-professional photography experiences. To read the full Press Release, click here.
Qualcomm’s Updated Premium Snapdragon Mobile Platform Continues Offering Android Users Excellent Gaming and Photography Experiences
Analyst Take: The newly announced 7 and 8 Series Snapdragon Mobile Platforms (Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and Snapdragon 7 Gen 1) are targeted at the premium Android device and mainstream gaming Android smartphone markets is a great move since more consumers are using their smartphones for gaming, photography, videography, social media and more. In my opinion, this is a great move since the smartphone will continue to displace other consumer devices over time and those consumers will continue to demand more enhanced functionality of the devices they are sunsetting.
The higher end of the Snapdragon Mobile Platform (8 Series), the Snapdragon 8+1 Gen 1, targeted at premium Android devices replaces the previous generation Snapdragon 8 G1 which has similar features as the previous generation with a few differences. A key difference is the updated SoC offers 10-percent more CPU performance with peak speeds of up to 3.2GHz versus 3.0GHz in the prior generation (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1). The Adreno GPU is expected to deliver up to 10-percent faster GPU clock-speeds and 30-percent power reduction that will deliver a better gaming experience. With additional power efficiencies gained, users will also be able to stretch their game play another sixty minutes which is key when users are on-the-road.
The other addition to the Snapdragon Mobile Platform is the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 (7 series) SoC, targeted at the upper end of mid-range phones and an update from its prior generation aimed at the gaming community. The new chip delivers over 20-percent faster graphics rendering coupled with low-latency HDR gaming. The chip has some cascaded features from the higher-end series such as the Spectra ISP coupled with the trust management engine and artificial intelligence hardware. From a connectivity perspective, the SoC features its 4th generation Snapdragon X62 5G modem-RF system (versus the prior generations x53 modem) supporting download speeds of up to 4.4Gbps and includes Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. From an imaging perspective, the chip also includes the Qualcomm Spectra Triple 14-bit ISP that can support up to 200-megapixel photo capture and 4K HDR video capture at 30 frames per second.
Wrapping it up, in my opinion, the updated Snapdragon Mobile Platform models should resonate well with premium Android smartphone users across the world that are seeking richer gaming, photography and entertainment experiences. In my opinion, consumers are willing to leave myriad standalone devices at home (e.g., video and point-and-shoot camera, etc.) to simplify their lives meaning they are expecting those substitutes to have close enough or similar functionality with the devices they are leaving behind.
Disclosure: Futurum Research is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum Research as a whole.
