Qualcomm, the leading provider of mobile chipsets for Android devices, has recently unveiled its latest premium mobile platform, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This chip is designed to bring generative AI, which enables users to create unique content and experiences, to the next wave of flagship smartphones.
In this article, we will explore the key features and capabilities of this new processor, and how it compares to its predecessors and competitors.
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What is Generative AI and Why Does It Matter?
Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on creating new data or content from existing data or content. For example, generative AI can be used to synthesize realistic images, videos, audio, text, or code from scratch or based on user inputs.
Generative AI can also be used to enhance or modify existing data or content, such as applying filters, effects, styles, or transformations. Generative AI has many potential applications and benefits for smartphone users.
For instance, generative AI can help users create personalized avatars, stickers, emojis, wallpapers, ringtones, or memes. It can also help users edit their photos or videos with advanced tools such as background removal, object insertion, face swap, or color grading.
Moreover, generative AI can assist users with productivity tasks such as summarizing documents, generating captions, translating languages, or writing code.
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How Does Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Enable Generative AI?
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is Qualcomm’s first mobile platform that is meticulously designed with generative AI in mind. This platform delivers industry-leading AI performance and efficiency across the entire system, including the CPU, GPU, DSP, ISP, and NPU.
According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 offers up to 2x faster AI performance and up to 4x better AI efficiency than its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 also supports a wide range of AI frameworks and tools that enable developers and users to leverage generative AI capabilities on their devices.
Some of these frameworks and tools include TensorFlow Lite, PyTorch Mobile, Qualcomm Neural Processing SDK, Qualcomm Hexagon NN Direct, Qualcomm Sensing Hub, and Qualcomm AI Engine Direct.
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What Are Some Examples of Generative AI Features Powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3?
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 enables a variety of generative AI features that can enhance the user experience on flagship smartphones. Here are some examples of these features:
- Snapdragon Soundscapes: This feature allows users to create immersive audio environments by mixing and matching different sounds from a library of natural and artificial sources. Users can also adjust the volume, pitch, reverb, and spatialization of each sound source to create their custom soundscapes.
- Snapdragon Style Transfer: This feature allows users to apply different artistic styles to their photos or videos using neural style transfer techniques. Users can choose from a selection of predefined styles or create their styles by using any image as a reference.
- Snapdragon Face Morph: This feature allows users to transform their facial features or expressions using face morphing techniques. Users can select from a range of presets or use sliders to adjust the shape, size, position, or angle of their eyes, nose, mouth, chin, cheeks, forehead, or eyebrows.
- Snapdragon Code Assist: This feature allows users to generate code snippets for various programming languages using natural language inputs. Users can specify the functionality, parameters, variables, or logic they want in their code and get suggestions for the corresponding syntax.
How Does Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Compare to Other Mobile Processors?
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is expected to be one of the most powerful and efficient mobile processors in the market in 2024. It competes with other flagship processors such as Google’s Tensor G3, Apple’s A17 Pro, Samsung’s Exynos 2200, and MediaTek’s Dimensity 2000. Here are some of the key specifications and benchmarks of these processors:
| Processor | CPU | GPU | NPU | Geekbench Single-Core | Geekbench Multi-Core | Antutu |
| Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Kyro (1x Cortex-X4 @ 3.3GHz + 5x Cortex-A720 @ up to 3.2GHz + 2x Cortex-A520 @ 2.3GHz) | Adreno (25% faster than Snapdragon 8 Gen 2) | Hexagon (up to 32 TOPS) | ~1800 | ~8000 | ~1,000,000 |
| Tensor G3 | Kompanio (9x Cortex-A710 @ up to 2.8GHz) | Mali-G710 (20% faster than Mali-G78) | TPU (up to 26 TOPS) | ~1600 | ~7000 | ~900,000 |
| A17 Pro | Firestorm (2x @ 3.5GHz + 2x @ 3.2GHz) + Icestorm (4x @ 1.8GHz) | A17 GPU (32-core) | A17 NPU (up to 30 TOPS) | ~2000 | ~9000 | ~1,100,000 |
| Exynos 2200 | Mongoose M6 (1x @ 3.1GHz) + Cortex-A710 (3x @ 2.8GHz) + Cortex-A510 (4x @ 2.2GHz) | AMD RDNA 2 (6-core) | NPU (up to 28 TOPS) | ~1700 | ~7500 | ~950,000 |
| Dimensity 2000 | Cortex-X3 (1x @ 3.0GHz) + Cortex-A710 (3x @ 2.6GHz) + Cortex-A510 (4x @ 2.0GHz) | Mali-G710 (9-core) | APU 4.0 (up to 24 TOPS) | ~1500 | ~6500 | ~850,000 |
As we can see from the table, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has a slight edge over its rivals in terms of CPU and NPU performance, while being slightly behind the A17 Pro in terms of GPU performance. However, these numbers are only indicative and may vary depending on the device model, software optimization, and testing conditions.
When Will the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Be Available and Which Devices Will Use It?
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is expected to be available in the coming weeks and will power the next generation of flagship Android devices from various OEMs and smartphone brands. Some of the confirmed or rumored devices that will use Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 include:
- ASUS Zenfone X
- Honor Magic X
- iQOO X
- MEIZU X
- NIO X
- Nubia Z30 Pro
- OnePlus X
- OPPO Find X5
- realme GT X
- Redmi K50 Pro
- RedMagic X
- Sony Xperia XZ5
- vivo X70 Pro+
- Xiaomi Mi 12
- ZTE Axon X
Conclusion
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a new mobile platform that aims to bring generative AI to the forefront of smartphone innovation. It offers impressive performance and efficiency across the board and supports a range of generative AI features that can enhance the user experience on flagship devices.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is expected to be one of the best mobile processors in the market in 2024 and will power many of the upcoming Android flagships from various OEMs and smartphone brands.