Qualcomm has just launched the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, a significant upgrade from its predecessor. It has notable enhancements in performance, efficiency, gaming, AI, camera, and audio. This latest chip is the first in the series to be manufactured on TSMC’s 4nm node. It is a shift from previous generations, which utilized Samsung’s 4nm and TSMC’s 6nm nodes.
Specs:
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is a trailblazer in the 6-series, featuring ARMv9-based CPU cores. It boasts a Cortex-A720 (2.3GHz) as the prime core, three additional A720 (2.2GHz) as big cores, and four Cortex-A520 (1.8GHz) as small cores, moving away from the ARMv8 designs (Cortex-A78/A55) of its predecessors.
Despite the generational leap in CPU design, the performance boost is higher than that of the Gen 3 chip. It is relatively modest,at 11%, as measured by Geekbench 5.2 single-thread tests. However, the new Adreno GPU offers a substantial 29% increase in performance. Qualcomm hasn’t disclosed many details about the GPU, but the new chip’s efficiency is 12% better than its predecessors.
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is the first in its family to support INT4. It enables optimized models with more parameters to fit into limited RAM. Qualcomm is developing a text summarization AI with a minimum memory requirement for LLMs running on the device, though exact figures haven’t been shared.
The chipset supports up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM (3,200MHz), with LPDDR4X (2,133MHz) being a more cost-effective option. It supports UFS 3.1 for storage. Wired connectivity includes USB-C 3.1, which can drive an external display at up to 4K @ 60Hz, with support for 10-bit colors and HDR10+.
The 6 Gen 4 chip can power devices with displays up to 1080p+ resolution and 144Hz refresh rates. Inspired by desktop GPUs, this Adreno GPU supports Snapdragon Game Super Resolution (upscaling for gaming up to 4K) and Adreno Frame Motion Engine. For the camera, the chip includes triple 12-bit ISPs supporting sensors up to 200MP, with video recording capabilities up to 4K HDR at 30fps. It supports HDR10 and HLG for video, 10-bit HEIF for photos, and hardware acceleration for H.265 and VP9 playback, though it does not support AV1.
Connectivity features include a 5G modem that supports sub-6GHz (4×4 MIMO) and mmWave (2×2 MIMO) with downlink speeds up to 2.9Gbps. Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) is supported, including the 6GHz band and Bluetooth 5.4 with aptX Adaptive. The GPS receiver supports triple-frequency positioning (L1/L5/L2).
Upcoming Devices:
Realme, Oppo, and Honor are among the first brands to adopt the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 for their devices. While exact launch dates are not yet specified, we can expect more updates in the coming months. India will likely be one of the first markets to see this new chipset. Device makers target an attractive price range of $100-$150.
