Qualcomm announces three-tiered Snapdragon G Series for handheld gaming consoles led by the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2

Qualcomm has silently announced upgrades to its G Series lineup of SoCs, aimed at handheld gaming consoles. We first saw Qualcomm introduce the Snapdragon G3x in the Razer Edge 5G last year. This year, the chipmaker is segregating the G Series across G1, G2, G3, and G3 segments.

The first of these, the Snapdragon G1 Gen 1, is aimed at devices that can stream console or PC games over the cloud. The Snapdragon G1 Gen 1 features an octa-core Kryo CPU and an Adren A11 GPU that supports up to 1080p 60 fps on-device video playback.

Then we have the Snapdragon G2 Gen 1 that enables both local and cloud gaming. It supports 5G and Wi-Fi 6E via the Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 platform. The G2 Gen 1 also features an octa-core Kryo CPU but sports a more powerful Adreno A21 that supports FHD+ 144 Hz gaming and up to 4K 30 fps video playback.

Finally, we have the flagship Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 that is an upgrade to the G3x Gen 1 in the Razer Edge. The G3x Gen 2 offers the same CPU cluster as the other two tiers but features an Adreno A32 GPU. Qualcomm doesn't provide exact specifications or clocks for the SoC components, but the company claims that the G3x Gen 2 offers about 30% faster CPU and 2x faster GPU performance compared to the G3x Gen 1.

Other platform features in the G3x Gen 2 include hardware-accelerated ray tracing, game super resolution, XR glass tethering, Snapdragon Sound low-latency Bluetooth audio, Wi-Fi 7, and support for 5G sub-6 GHz and mmWave bands. Additionally, the G3x Gen 2 also brings support for stereo haptics and dual camera setups.

Qualcomm has begun sampling G3x Gen 2 reference hardware to OEMs and ODMs such as AyaNeo, Huaqin, Invectec, Thundercomm, and others. Devices such as the upcoming AyaNeo Pocket S can be expected to launch soon with the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2.