The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will likely be announced during Qualcomm’s annual Snapdragon Summit, and according to one tipster, the company may be preparing two variants, each for a different class of Android smartphones.
Top-Tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Variant Could Operate at up to 3.50GHz
The machine translation on Digital Chat Station’s Weibo account reveals that one Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 model could be announced with a CPU frequency in the 3.40-3.50GHz range. The tipster also states that the GPU speed could be increased accordingly. Looking at the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, which is made on TSMC’s 4nm process, the same technology used to mass produce the A16 Bionic, Qualcomm’s current flagship mobile SoC received a multitude of improvements.
These improvements were seen in real-world tests, where the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 actually beat the A15 Bionic, showing what wonders can happen when you shift from Samsung’s to TSMC’s manufacturing process. Similarly, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 moving to TSMC’s power efficient 4nm node means that Qualcomm can play around with higher CPU and GPU clock speeds and not be worried about the chipset overheating all the time.
We believe that the higher-end version will be reserved for manufacturers that want the absolute best for their Android flagships. While the following is pure speculation, Samsung could use the top-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for its Galaxy S23 Ultra, while using the less powerful variant will be incorporated in the cheaper models. Similarly, we could see Qualcomm’s faster SoC perform well in gaming smartphones from the likes of ASUS since these devices normally have better cooling solutions.
In short, there is plenty of opportunity for Qualcomm to bank on having two variants. Of course, we will not know what actually happens at the upcoming Snapdragon Summit, so we advise our readers to treat all this information with a pinch of salt for now. If you want to learn more about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, be sure to go through our detailed rumor roundup and be informed about the most up-to-date information on Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship chipset.
News Source: Digital Chat Station
