Qualcomm has been producing Snapdragon CPUs for mobile game consoles since 2023. These processors, marketed under the Snapdragon G name, are distinct from those used in smartphones and tablets. The corporation has made significant enhancements to its entire portfolio today.
The Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 is the first G-series SoC to enable Lumen in Unreal Engine 5. Lumen is a mechanism that reflects and illuminates the world dynamically. Additional information is available in this video and here. Furthermore, ray tracing has hardware acceleration, which the G2 and G1 do not have.
The Gen 3 chip offers performance enhancements and additional capabilities. The 8-core CPU outperforms the G3 Gen 2 CPU by 30% (1x prime, 5x performance, and 2x efficiency) and is 28% faster with the new Adreno A32 GPU.
With a staggering 3.8x increase in GPU capabilities and a 2.3x jump in CPU speed, the Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 is a huge improvement over its predecessor. The CPU’s core mix is different (1+4+3 as opposed to 1+5+2), however Qualcomm doesn’t specify which cores are being utilized (Kryo or Oryon?).
The Adreno A22 GPU does not have ray tracing hardware; however, it does support Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.0 (frame generation) and Snapdragon Game Super Resolution (upscaling), which are also available on the A32. The G3 and G2 may drive QHD+ screens at up to 144 Hz.
Regarding connection, the new G3 and G2 processors provide Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 7, and optional 5G (sub-6GHz and mmWave) capability.
The less expensive Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 is primarily designed for cloud gaming. It has Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 5 (ac), and 1080p+ screens at up to 120 Hz. 5G is also an option.
Despite not having a prime core, the new CPU (2+6) is 80% quicker than its predecessor. More modestly, the Adreno A12 improves performance by 25%. Efficiency, not performance, was the main aim here.
Handheld gaming devices using the new Snapdragon G CPUs will be available “beginning this quarter” from companies including AYANEO, ONEXSUGAR, Retroid Pocket, and others. Only a few weeks remain in Q1, so we’re unclear why Qualcomm wasn’t more explicit about the dates.
