Snapdragon Summit | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 presented with performance improvements, efficiency gains and Google Pixel 8 AI capabilities

Qualcomm has now presented the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which it has showcased at this year's Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii alongside the Snapdragon X series. As expected, Qualcomm boasts that its latest high-end smartphone chipset delivers considerable performance and efficiency gains compared to last year's model. For example, its new octa-core CPU is 30% faster, while an updated Adreno GPU promises 25% performance and efficiency improvements.

Arguably, the biggest leap forward from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 lies in the latter's Neural Processing Unit (NPU). According to Qualcomm's materials, its new NPU is 98% faster than the equivalent in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Better still, the Always-On Low-Power Sensing Hub integrated within the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is said to be 3.5x more powerful, which should all result in Qualcomm's new chipset having enough AI performance to upset the Tensor G3 in the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.

Elsewhere, Qualcomm states that an updated Image Signal Processor (ISP) utilises the Dolby HDR Photo Capture, a format that should be backwards compatible with JPG and is designed to improve a photo's dynamic range on HDR-capable displays. In other words, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 should mirror Tensor G3's support for Google's Ultra HDR format. Currently, Qualcomm has only outlined that ASUS, Honor, iQOO, Meizu, Nio, Nubia, OnePlus Oppo, Realme, RedMagic, Sony, Vivo, Xiaomi and ZTE will bring Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered handsets to market 'in the coming weeks'. Please see Qualcomm's product sheet and slides below for more information. 

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