After several leaks and rumors, Qualcomm has finally unveiled its latest flagship chipset for smartphones -- the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1. As with all 'Plus' variants of flagship Qualcomm chipsets launched over the last few years, the new SoC offers minor improvements over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, including better CPU and GPU performance and lower power consumption.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1: Specifications

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1

CPU

  • 1x Kryo (ARM Cortex-X2-based) Prime core @ 3.2GHz, 1MB L2 cache
  • 3x Kryo (ARM Cortex A710-based) Performance cores @ 2.8GHz
  • 4x Kryo (ARM Cortex A510-based) Efficiency cores @ 2.0GHz
  • 10% faster CPU performance
  • 30% more power-efficient

GPU

  • Adreno GPU
  • Vulkan 1.1 API support
  • Adreno Frame Motion Engine
  • HDR Gaming with 10-bit color depth and Rec. 2020 color gamut
  • Physically Based Rendering
  • Volumetric Rendering
  • Hardware-accelerated H.265 and VP9 decoder
  • 10% faster GPU clock speeds
  • 30% GPU power reduction

Display

  • Maximum On-Device Display Support: 4K @ 60Hz/QHD+ @ 144Hz
  • Maximum External Display Support: 4K @ 60Hz
  • HDR10 and HDR10+
  • 10-bit color depth, Rec. 2020 color gamut
  • Dumora and subpixel rendering for OLED Uniformity

AI

  • Qualcomm Hexagon Processor
    • Fused AI Accelerator
    • Hexagon Tensor Accelerator
    • Hexagon Vector eXtensions
    • Hexagon Scalar Accelerator
    • Support for mix precision (INT8+INT16)
    • Support for all precisions (INT8, INT16, FP16)
  • 3rd generation Qualcomm Sensing Hub
    • Always on
    • Always secure
  • Up to 20% better performance/watt than predecessor

Memory

LPDDR5 @ 3200MHz, 16GB

ISP

  • Triple 18-bit Spectra 680 ISP
    • Up to 3.2 Gigapixels per Second computer vision ISP
    • Up to 36MP triple camera @ 30 FPS with Zero Shutter Lag
    • Up to 64+36MP dual camera @ 30 FPS with Zero Shutter Lag
    • Up to 108MP single camera @ 30 FPS with Zero Shutter Lag
    • Up to 200 MP photo capture
  • Video capture: 8K HDR @ 30 fps; Slow motion up to 720p@960 fps; HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision

Modem

  • Snapdragon X65 5G Modem
  • Downlink: Up to 10Gbps
  • Modes: NSA, SA, TDD, FDD
  • mmWave: 1000MHz bandwidth, 8 carriers, 2x2 MIMO
  • sub-6 GHz: 300MHz bandwidth, 4x4 MIMO

Charging

Qualcomm Quick Charge 5

Connectivity

Location: Beidou, Galileo, GLONASS, GPS, QZSS, NavIC capableWi-Fi: Qualcomm FastConnect 6900; Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 6; 2.4/5GHz/6GHz Bands; 20/40/80/160 MHz Channels; DBS (2x2 + 2x2), TWT, WPA3, 8×8 MU-MIMOBluetooth: Version 5.3, aptX Voice, aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, and LE audio

Manufacturing Process

4nm TSMC


As you can probably tell from looking at the spec sheet above, the new Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 doesn't bring anything revolutionary to the table. Compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the Plus variant is an iterative upgrade, offering minor performance improvements and better power efficiency. However, there is now a switchover to TSMC's 4nm manufacturing process, which can yield some realizable gains.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus reference design smartphone in hand with home office in background

The Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 features an improved Qualcomm Kryo CPU, with a Cortex-X2 prime core clocked at 3.2Ghz, three Cortex A710 performance cores clocked at 2.8GHz, and four Cortex A510 efficiency cores clocked at 2.0GHz. Qualcomm claims that the upgraded CPU is 10 percent faster than the one on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and offers 30 percent better CPU power efficiency.

The Adreno GPU on the new chipset also boasts of up to 10 percent faster clock speeds and a 30 percent reduction in power consumption. The 7th Gen Qualcomm AI Engine on the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 also offers up to 20 percent better performance per watt than its predecessor.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 reference design smartphone in hand with urban landscape in the background

The rest of the specifications of the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, like the Spectra 680 ISP and the Snapdragon X65 5G modem, remain unchanged. However, Qualcomm has made one minor improvement on the connectivity front. Instead of Bluetooth 5.2, Qualcomm's latest flagship chipset offers Bluetooth 5.3 support.

Qualcomm says that devices featuring the new Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset from OEMs like ASUS ROG, Black Shark, Honor, iQOO, Lenovo, Motorola, Nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, OSOM, Realme, RedMagic, Redmi, Vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE should hit the market in Q2 2022. While the company has not shared a definitely release timeline, recent leaks suggest that some OEMs could announce their latest flagships before the end of June.