In Summary
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 780G brings premium-tier features for the first time in the Snapdragon 7-series.
- The Snapdragon 780G is built on a 5nm manufacturing process and offers up to 2.4GHz of clock speeds.
- Snapdragon 780G employs triple ISPs and provisions updateable GPU drivers.
With more than 350 devices sold to date, the Snapdragon 7-series processors have had a fairly impressive stint. And, riding on the same momentum, Qualcomm is now introducing a new platform in the series called the Snapdragon 780G. With the Snapdragon 780G, Qualcomm aims to bring premium-tier features to the 7-series for the first time to make what it calls the next-generation experience accessible to a larger audience.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 780G Highlights
1. CPU and GPU – the Qualcomm Snapdragon 780G is based on the 5nm process technology. It incorporates the Kryo 670 architecture that promises up to 40% improvement in performance than its predecessor. The chipset promises to offer up to 2.4GHz of clock speed, and for graphics processing, it has the Adreno 642 GPU.
2. AI – in terms of AI performance, the latest Qualcomm offering employs the 6th-generation Qualcomm AI Engine. The new AI Engine utilizes the Hexagon 770 processor to deliver up to 12 TOPS AI of performance, which is a 2x improvement over its predecessor. Furthermore, it also features the 2nd-generation Sensing Hub that integrates a dedicated low-power AI processor to aid with audio processing.
3. Connectivity – the Snapdragon 780G features the Snapdragon X53 5G Modem-RF system, which promises peak download speeds of up to 3.3Gbps on sub-6GHz frequencies. It includes support for SA, NSA, FDD, and TDD modes. Additionally, there is Qualcomm’s FastConnect 6900 Connectivity System, which promises up to 3.6Gbps of WiFi 6 speeds along with low latency VR performance. The chipset also has support for WiFi 6E, extending the capability further to gain better performance over the 6GHz spectrum.
4. Gaming – talking about gaming, the Snapdragon 780G is said to be fully optimized with a suite of Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gaming features, which Qualcomm says provide ultra-smooth gaming with true 10-bit HDR and updateable GPU drivers. In addition to better performance, the inclusion of a new CPU architecture is said to increase the overall power efficiency of the platform.
5. Camera – much like gaming, camera performance is another major highlight on smartphones these days, and with the Snapdragon 780G, Qualcomm is employing a triple ISP on the platform. Qualcomm says that having triple ISPs allows the chipset to capture images from three cameras simultaneously, which can deliver three different images captured by the zoom, wide, ultra-wide-angle lens all at once. The ISP can support up to 25MP sensors in a triple setup, up to 64MP + 20MP sensors in a dual setup, and up to 84MP in a single camera setup. Besides this, some of the other advantages of the ISP include better low-light performance, HDR10+ video capturing, 4K HDR with computational HDR capturing, and more.
6. Miscellaneous – as for other specifications, the Snapdragon 780G comes with support for QuickCharge 4+ charging technology. It supports up to 16GB of LPDDR4 RAM. In terms of display, Snapdragon 780G enables FHD+ resolution at 144Hz with support for HDR10 and HDR10+.
Snapdragon 780G Availability
As for availability, Qualcomm says the first wave of Snapdragon 780G-powered smartphones is expected to make its way in the second quarter of this year.