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In the ever-evolving world of smartphone technology, Qualcomm has thrown down the gauntlet with the launch of its latest flagship chip for Android devices: the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Benchmarks reveal that this new chip is not just holding its own but even rivaling Apple’s cutting-edge 3nm chip found in the iPhone 15 Pro.
Qualcomm asserts that this chip offers a remarkable 30% increase in raw processing power while being significantly more power-efficient. Furthermore, it places a heavy emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. It features the new Hexagon NPU, which is touted to be 98% faster. Besides that, it also enables impressive on-device AI models like stable diffusion and photo expansion.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a 4nm chipset with a 1+5+2 core layout. At its core is the powerful Cortex-X4 at 3.3 GHz, supported by five Cortex-A720 performance cores at 3.2 GHz and two Cortex-A520 efficiency cores at 2.3 GHz, as reported by 9to5Google.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in benchmarks
Qualcomm has shared a short video highlighting benchmark results, and the numbers are indeed intriguing. Especially the performance retention in back-to-back tests on the 8 Gen 3 is worth noting. But how does the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 stack up against its competition?
GSMArena provides a comprehensive context for these results (image below). In AnTuTu the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 achieved an impressive score of 2,139,281, eclipsing Apple’s score of 1,487,203.
In essence, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is entering the ring as a challenger to Apple’s flagship A17 Pro chip. What makes this feat even more remarkable is that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a 4nm chip, whereas Apple’s A17 Pro operates on a 3nm architecture.
Will it surpass the A17 Pro in the iPhone 15 Pro/Max in real life?
Last year the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 brought a significant improvement over the 8 Gen 1. This year’s story seems to be no different, with even improved efficiency and the result in benchmarks. But whether this new chip on Android will perform better than the iPhone 15 Pro/Max depends on the operating system and specific tasks too.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is rivaling the best of Apple’s in benchmarks. However, real-life tasks in completely different software environments may still tell a different story. For that, we’ll have to wait for the global release of the Xiaomi 14 series (the first to boast Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) which might give us a perspective of real-life performance.
