Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2: Features, Specifications
Qualcomm, one of the world’s largest chipmakers, has unveiled the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chip. Fabbed under a 4nm process (Samsung), this thing brings some notable upgrades over the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 that was announced last September. More about Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 in this article.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Overview:
4nm process and X61 5G modem
As aforementioned, Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 is manufactured under Samsung’s 4nm node. And its octa-core CPU consists of two high-performance Cortex-A78 cores clocked at up to 2.2 GHz and six efficiency Cortex-A55 cores at up to 2GHz. Compared to its predecessor, that’s 200 MHz higher on both CPU cores. However, Qualcomm has kept the GPU info hidden as of now.
Besides that, this midrange chip is the first in the series to support the 3GPP Release 16 version of 5G via the X61 modem with 4×4 MIMO. This version expands the 5G NR frequency spectrum with bands starting from under 1 GHz and going up to 43 GHz. As a result, Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 will offer you faster upload and download speeds at 900 Mbps and 2.5 Gbps, respectively.
Dual ISP
Well, the 4 Gen 2 brings a slight downgrade on the ISP section, toning down to dual ISP support from 4 Gen 1’s triple ISP. However, it retains the 108MP camera compatibility and adds “Zero Shutter Lag” support for up to 32MP or 16MP + 16MP dual cameras. And the video recording ability is still capped at 1080p 60 fps but with EIS support this time. Plus, you get Multi-Camera Temporal Filtering (MCTF) for reducing noise in videos.
Faster UFS 3.1 storage and LDDR5 RAM
What’s even more significant upgrade is the support for UFS 3.1 storage and LPDDR5 (3200 MHz) RAM on this new chip. For reference, Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 only supported LPDDR4x RAM at 2,133 MHz and UFS 2.2 storage. What’s not changed though is the USB 3.2 Gen 1WiFi 5, and Bluetooth 5.1 support.
Others
Moving on, Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 carries the Quick Charge 4+ support from its predecessor. It can fill up the battery from 0-15% in 15 minutes as per Qualcomm. Besides this, the SoC supports Full HD+ displays at 120Hz and 120 fps for supported games and AI-enhanced noise cancellation.
Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 vs 4 Gen 1 Key Specs:
| Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 | Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 | |
| Architecture | 4nm (Samsung) | 6nm (TSMC) |
| Performance/ big cores | 2x Cortex-A78 (@2.2 GHz) | 2x Cortex-A78 (@2.0 GHz) |
| Efficiency/ little cores | 6x Cortex-A55 (@2.0 GHz) | 6x Cortex-A55 (@ 1.8GHz) |
| GPU | Adreno (Unspecified) | Adreno 619 |
| Memory | LPDDR5 | LPDDR4X |
| Image Signal Processing | (Dual, up to 108MP, Zero Shutter Lag on up to 32MP camera) | (Triple, up to 108MP) |
| Integrated Modem | Snapdragon X61 5G | Snapdragon X51 5G |
| Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Subsystem | FastConnect 6100 (Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1) | |
| Fast Charging | Quick Charge 4+ | |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Availability
According to Qualcomm, Snapdragon 4 Gen 2-powered phones will be available by Q2 2023. With Redmi and Vivo being the first in line to taste this chip.
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