Qualcomm has unveiled its latest chip series, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, on November 17, targeting mid-range smartphones. The new chip lineup aims to incorporate built-in generative AI capabilities akin to its more powerful counterpart, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Christopher Patrick, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Handsets at Qualcomm Technologies, emphasized that the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 Mobile Platform is intelligently designed to balance performance and power efficiency, delivering a range of premium experiences unique to the Snapdragon 7-series.
Featuring a 4nm architecture, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 includes a configuration of a single prime core, three performance cores, and four efficiency cores. The chip's Hexagon NPU (Neural Processing Unit) for AI capabilities provides 60% more performance per watt compared to the previous generation chipset. Qualcomm has highlighted the new processor's capabilities, including up to 2.63GHz peak CPU speeds and over 50% faster GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) performance.
In terms of imaging, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 incorporates the Qualcomm Spectra Triple ISP (Image Signal Processor), offering support for 4K HDR videos and introducing new AI-based features like AI Remosaic and AI Denoiser. Additionally, spatial audio support with head tracking has been added to the third generation of the Snapdragon 7-series.
Qualcomm has confirmed partnerships with Chinese smartphone manufacturers HONOR and Vivo, making them the first to adopt the new Snapdragon 7-series platform in their devices. The commercial launch of the first devices featuring the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 is expected later this month, showcasing enhanced AI and camera capabilities to a broader consumer base.
