Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 4 Gen 1

Today Qualcomm announced its mid-range Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and entry-level Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chipsets. The 6 Gen 1 is built on a 4nm manufacturing process, while the more affordable SD 4 Gen 1 stays on the 6nm node. The first SD 6 Gen 1-powered devices are expected to arrive in Q1 2023 while the SD 4 Gen 1 will make its debut this quarter.

Unfortunately, Qualcomm didn't share the full specs of the CPUs, so we only know that the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1's main cores will go up to 2.2GHz while the SD 4 Gen 1's CPU caps at 2.0GHz. Both offer eight cores, but the architecture and powerful/efficient breakdown wasn't confirmed. There's no mention of the Adreno GPUs used either.

All Qualcomm said is the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 promises 35% increase in graphics performance as well as 40% jump in computational performance, but didn't say what it uses as a reference. The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 offers a 15% faster CPU and 10% more powerful GPU. We assume this comparison is to the Snapdragon 480/480+ as the company has no other 400 chipsets currently.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 features the 12-bit Spectra Triple ISP supporting native HDR image capturing and 200MP cameras. HDR videos are also on the menu. Some advanced AI capabilities are at hand and the chipset makes use of the 7th generation Qualcomm AI Engine helping out with the bokeh effect and general performance and energy optimization.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 brings Wi-Fi 6E connectivity as well as a 4th generation Snapdragon X62 5G modem.

Qualcomm's AI Engine is utilized on the SD 4 Gen 1 as well but it's not the latest one. The new hardware can now support 120Hz FHD+ displays with Variable Rate Shading.

The Spectra Triple ISP on the 4 Gen 1 takes care of noise by utilizing the Multi-frame Noise Reduction technology and can support 108MP cameras.

5G connectivity is available via the Snapdragon X51 5G modem, but there's no Wi-Fi 6E support here.

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 will debut on iQOO's upcoming Z6 Lite smartphone and will be available globally before the end of this quarter, which is three weeks from now.