Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 silicon for Android phones

American semiconductor major Qualcomm has announced the launch of the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 series silicon, which comes with big upgrades over the predecessor.

The Qualcomm chipset will power new Android mid-range phones slated for release later this year.

It promises to deliver significantly faster and efficient performance, improve the battery life of the phone, enhance photography, and enable phones to support superior quality display.

Snapdragon 7 Gen 4: Key aspects of Qualcomm's latest silicon for mobiles

- The new 4nm class Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 comes with 64-bit architecture. It has one prime core (with up to 2.8 GHz), four performance cores (up to 2.4 GHz speed), and three efficiency cores (up to 1.8 GHz). It can improve CPU performance by up to 27 per cent over its predecessor.

-- With the latest Adreno GPU, it promises to deliver up to 30 per cent improved performance

-- With new Hexagon Nureal Processing Unit, it promises to deliver up to 65 per cent improved performance

Key aspects of Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3.

- It supports fused AI Accelerator Architecture, Hexagon Tensor Accelerator, Hexagon Vector eXtensions, Hexagon Scalar Accelerator, supports precisions INT4, INT8, and INT16, and dedicated NPUs for audio and sensors.

- With Qualcomm Sensing Hub and settings adjustments enabled by the Qualcomm AI Engine, it can help the device run generative artificial intelligence apps smoothly.

- It supports HDR gaming (10-bit colour depth), API Support: OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 FP, Vulkan 1.3; hardware-accelerated H.265 and VP9 decoder and HDR Playback Codec support for HLG, HDR10+, HDR10, and HDR vivid.

- In addition to Snapdragon Elite Gaming features, Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 comes with the first-in-series Qualcomm Adaptive Performance Engine 4.0, which can intelligently schedule resources for high-intensity scenes, keeping gameplay seamless and immersive.

- It also features Snapdragon Adaptive Game Configuration, which can fine-tune CPU and GPU performance in real time for smooth play with reduced stutter—all without draining battery power. With Snapdragon Game Super Resolution, it provides vibrant visuals while Qualcomm Game Quick Touch offers responsiveness to the millisecond.

- Devices with Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 can support LP-DDR5x RAM (up to 4200 MHz), LP-DDR5 RAM (up to 3200 MHz), and LP-DDR4 RAM (up to 2100 MHz).

- Devices with Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 can support a high-resolution WQHD+ display with up to 144 Hz refresh rate.

- It supports a triple 12-bit Spectra Image Signal Processor that comes with all-new AI-enhanced features built in. It can support Real-time Video Super Resolution to capture sharp, clear footage—even when zoomed in.

- Thanks to the new-in-series AI-powered autofocus, auto white balance, and auto exposure, it offers a richer user experience for photos and videos, with vivid colours, fast focus, and higher dynamic range. Also, it is the series' first hardware electronic image stabilisation that allows the device to capture stable videos even with shaking hands. So, no extra gear is required to get sharp and clear videos.

- With this, the device will be able to capture high-quality 10-bit colour depth photo and video capture, 4K at 30 frames per second (fps) HDR video capture, and 64 MP photo capture. It also supports 10-bit HEIF photo capture and HEVC video capture.

And, it can help the device capture high-grade pictures with less loss of quality even when zooming in, with 200 MP single shots.

- It supports Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), 802.11a/b/g/n; Wi-Fi Spectral Bands: 6 GHz, 5 GHz, 2.4 GHz. It can support peak download speeds of up to 5.8 Gbps.

It supports Bluetooth 6.0, LE Audio.

- The new Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 comes with a 5G Modem-RF System. It supports 5G mmWave and sub-6 GHz, standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) modes, FDD, and TDD Dynamic Spectrum Sharing. And, supports peak download speeds of 4.2 Gbps.

- Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 is expected to feature in upcoming phones from Vivo and Honor soon. Speculations are rife that OnePlus's soon-to-be-launched Nord 5 series is expected to feature the new Qualcomm chipset.

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