Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 865

Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 is a fast mid-range SoC with 8 cores for smartphones and tablets (mainly Android-based). It was introduced at the beginning of 2023 and brings significant advantages compared to the predecessor, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 (hence the direct jump to the Plus naming).

Qualcomm combines a powerful ARM Cortex-X2 performance core with clock rates up to 2.91 GHz with three Cortex-A710 cores at 2.49 GHz and with four frugal Cortex-A510 efficiency cores at 1.8 GHz. An Adreno 725 is used as the GPU, which supports Vulkan 1.1 and Snapdragon Elite Gaming. 

Qualcomm speaks of a 50 percent better processor performance and twice the GPU and AI performance, as well as a 13 percent improved efficiency, each compared to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1.

The integrated ISP can handle photos from a 200 MP camera as well as 4K HDR videos. Qualcomm promises a particularly effective night mode, in which 30 photos are taken almost simultaneously and combined into a brighter image. The AI accelerator is not only twice as fast, but also 40 percent more efficient, enabling AI Super Resolution, among other things, so games and videos can be intelligently scaled to a higher resolution.

The integrated Bluetooth chip supports Qualcomm aptX Lossless as well as Qualcomm High Speed Link for a more stable connection. Qualcomm also installs a Snapdragon X62 5G modem that achieves a download speed of up to 4.4 Gbps. The FastConnect 6900 chip supports Wi-Fi 6 and also Wi-Fi 6E. 

The SoC is manufactured in the modern 4nm process at TSMC and should have a very good energy efficiency.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 865

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform is a high-end smartphone and tablet SoC that Qualcomm announced in December 2019. The SoC integrates a fast ‘Prime Core’ that clocks up to 2.84 GHz and three further fast ARM Cortex-A77 performance cores, which can reach up to 2.42 GHz. These are complemented by four power-saving ARM Cortex-A55 cores that clock up to a maximum of 1.8 GHz. The difference to the older Snapdragon 855 is the switch from Cortex-A76 to the faster Cortex-A77 architecture. The clock speeds stay the same. 

Therefore, the Snapdragon 865 takes the top spot in mobile processors for Android based systems. In some multi-core workloads, the SD865 can even perform on par with the Apple A13 SoC. Single thread, however is still a strong suit of the Apple SoCs.

Compared to the previous generations, the Snapdragon 865 does not integrate an LTE modem anymore, but has to be paired with the new X55 5G modem, that also supports LTE Cat 24/22. The Wi-Fi module however is still integrated and called FastConnect 6800 with support for Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and 8x8 MU-MIMU and 60 GHz 802.11ay with up to 10 Gbps. Bluetooth 5.1 is also supported including aptX Adaptive.

The integrated GPU is now called Adreno 650 and should offer 20% more performance than the Adreno 640 in the Snapdragon 855.

The on board Hexagon 698 DSP now offers an improved KI performance of up to 15 TOPS (up from 7 TOPS in the 855) and still uses a combination of CPU, GPU, HVX and Tensor cores. The Spectra 480 ISP is now also significantly faster. The integrated Computer Vision Engine (CV-ISP) now supports Dolby Vision, 8K videos and 200 megapixel photos.

The built-in memory controller now supports LPDDR5 with up to 2,750 MHz and LPDDR4X with 2,133 MHz.

The Snapdragon 865 is manufactured at TSMC in the new improved 7nm process (N7P, DUV-based). The process offers a 7% higher performance or 10% less power consumption compared to the old N7 process.