Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2, And The First Devices To Use It Launch This Month

Qualcomm has introduced its latest upper mid-range mobile SoC, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2, which succeeds the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC that arrived last year. The latest mobile chip from Qualcomm is based on the same 4nm fabrication processor as its predecessor, but this one features a faster Prime Kryo CPU based on ARM's Cortex-X2 core clocked at 2.9 GHz. There are also a trio of performance cores ticking at 2.49 GHz and a cluster of four efficiency cores to handle less demanding tasks. The chipmaker says its latest offering delivers up to 50% performance gain over the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, while the upgraded Adreno GPU offers a notable 2x boost at graphics-intensive tasks. 

To enhance the gaming performance, the company is also throwing in some Snapdragon Elite Gaming tricks such as Adreno Frame Motion Engine and Volumetric Rendering. There's also support for Auto Variable Rate Shading (VRS), which automatically adjusts the resolution based on focus-specific on-screen content while playing games to offer the best visual experience. The souped-up AI engine is claimed to be twice as fast and up to 40% more power efficient this time around. Upgrades have also been made in the charging and connectivity department. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 peaked at Quick Charge 4+, while the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 SoC enables Quick Charge 5, which is said to go from zero to 50% battery juice in just five minutes.

In the camera department, the triple ISP architecture is here to stay, but compared to the 14-bit color depth supported by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 SoC, its successor takes things up a notch to 18-bit color capture. Qualcomm says the updated Spectra ISP can now capture 4,000 times more light data to deliver higher dynamic range and clarity. The new SoC also supports photo capture of up to 200 megapixels, while video capture is capped at 108-megapixels resolution and 30 fps frame rate. The supported display resolution has also gone up from FHD+ to QHD at 120 Hz, while the older Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 Wi-Fi modem has been replaced with the newer FastConnect 6900 Mobile Connectivity System.

As a result, the peak Wi-Fi download speed is going up from 2.9 Gbps to 3.6 Gbps. Notably, Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 is the first chip in the line-up to support the 5G/4G Dual-Sim Dual Active (DSDA) tech that allows two SIM cards on simultaneous standby. The first wave of phones powered by the new Qualcomm chip will come from China's Realme and Xiaomi's Redmi brand. Leaks suggest that the Realme GT Neo 5 SE will use the aforementioned Qualcomm chip, and will also offer other goodies like a 6.74-inch 1.5K OLED panel with 144Hz refresh rate, triple rear cameras, and support for 100W fast charging.