Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 with on-device AI
Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 mobile platform, offering select flagship features in a cost-effective solution. The 4nm platform supports on-device generative AI. Manufacturers including Honor, iQOO, Realme, Redmi, and Xiaomi plan to adopt the 8s Gen 3 in upcoming devices.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is manufactured on a 4nm process and features a 1+4+3 core configuration. The platform incorporates a single ARM Cortex-X4 prime core clocked at 3.0 GHz, four performance cores operating at 2.8 GHz, and three efficiency cores at 2.0 GHz. This differs from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3's 1+5+2 core configuration, which trades an efficiency core for an additional performance core.
Qualcomm positions the 8s Gen 3 as offering a selection of key features from its flagship offerings. The platform supports on-device generative AI, including models like Gemini Nano, with the caveat that larger language and vision models (exceeding 10 billion parameters) would experience faster performance on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
The 8s Gen 3 integrates an always-sensing ISP that enables real-time semantic segmentation, capable of identifying up to twelve distinct layers (such as faces, hair, clothing, and sky) within images and videos.
Additional areas of focus for the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 include mobile gaming with real-time hardware-accelerated ray tracing, connectivity with support for Qualcomm's X70 modem (as opposed to the X75 modem found in the 8 Gen 3), and advanced audio capabilities featuring LE Audio with Auracast technology. The platform also boasts Snapdragon Seamless experiences for enhanced cross-device functionality.
In the coming months, smartphone manufacturers including Honor, iQOO, realme, Redmi, and Xiaomi are expected to launch devices powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, with the first official announcement anticipated in March.
