Qualcomm owns a major share in the chipset market. A huge number of Android smartphones are powered by Qualcomm chipsets, while their modems are also used in iPhones and other Apple devices. Many smartphone makers, such as OnePlus and Samsung, rely on Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon chipset for their flagship devices. The company has been rumored to be working on the next-generation flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus chipset, for quite a few months, and now a new teaser from Qualcomm suggests that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ could be introduced later this week.
Qualcomm has now published a new poster on the Chinese social networking website Weibo announcing that it will host an event on May 20, 2022. At the moment, Qualcomm has not revealed what it would announce at the event, but a lot of rumors suggest that the company could finally announce new 8 Gen and 7 Gen series processors. Here's everything you need to know about Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus and Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 ahead of launch.
Source: Weibo
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus: Everything we know
Last year, Qualcomm pivoted from its three-digit naming scheme and debuted the first-ever chipset of the 8 Gen lineup, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The response, however, has not been that great. The chipset is reported to have overheating and throttling issues. And then there's also added pressure from MediaTek and Apple, who have been rolling out much improved chipsets in the past few years. It now seems that Qualcomm is looking to correct its mistakes with an improved version of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
Source: Qualcomm Video
Past leaks and rumors have suggested that Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus will only be a minor upgrade over the last generation chipset. It will likely be based on the same 4nm node process architecture as the Snapdragon 8 Gen1. Reports have also suggested that the 8 Gen1+ will be manufactured by TSMC and not Samsung Foundry.
The chipset will come with the model number SM8475 and a few improvements over the 2021 version. The chipset will reportedly retain the same 1+3+4 architecture core configuration, which will include an ARM Cortex X2 prime core, three Cortex A710 cores, and four Cortex A510 cores but will offer a 10% improvement over the last generation. While most of the improvements are expected on the GPU and CPU fronts, the chipset is also said to come with fixes for throttling and overheating issues.
A number of companies have reportedly partnered with Qualcomm for their smartphones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus chipset. The list of companies includes Lenovo, Motorola, OnePlus, and Xiaomi. In addition to these, we also expect the Nothing phone (1) to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ due to its launch timeline (it is expected to arrive next month) and Qualcomm and Nothing's close relationship.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 1: Everything we know
On the other hand, Qualcomm could also debut its first-ever 7 Gen series chipset this week. This chipset is said to be Qualcomm's answer to the MediaTek Dimensity 8100. Although Qualcomm has not confirmed anything about the chipset (including the name), renowned leaker Digital Chat Station claims that the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset will come with ARM Cortex-A710 and Cortex-A510 cores.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen1, just like its costlier sibling, is also expected to be based on the 4nm node process architecture. This chipset will reportedly come with four ARM Cortex-A710 clocked at 2.36GHz and four Cortex-A510 cores clocked at 1.8GHz. The mighty CPU is said to be paired with Adreno 662 GPU. Overall, it seems that the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 will be a premium mid-tier offering from Qualcomm. OPPO’s upcoming Reno8 smartphone is one of the smartphones rumored to come with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip. The smartphone will be introduced in China later this month.
What we want to see
With Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus, we expect a real flagship-level chipset from Qualcomm. The last few generations of flagship chips from Qualcomm have been a little underwhelming. Even though they offer performance on par with Apple's A-series chips and even Google's Tensor chip, the chips have been plagued with throttling issues. We hope Qualcomm is able to fix such issues in the next generation.
What are your expectations from Qualcomm's upcoming chipsets? Would you buy a flagship smartphone with the currently available Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chip, or would you wait for companies to introduce Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus smartphones? Let us know in the comments section below!