Qualcomm Announces the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Mobile Chipset

At its Snapdragon Tech Summit 2021, Qualcomm announced the successor to the Snapdragon 888, which comes with new branding—it’s called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1—and a new era of connectivity and performance.

“As the world’s most advanced mobile platform, Snapdragon is synonymous with premium Android experiences and the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 sets the standard for the next generation of flagship mobile devices,” Qualcomm vice president Alex Katouzian says. “It delivers connectivity, photography, AI, gaming, sound, and security experiences never before available in a smartphone.”

Key new features of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 include:

Connectivity. This new chipset comes with the 4th generation Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System, the first 5G modem-RF solution to reach 10 Gigabit download speeds. It also includes the Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 Mobile Connectivity System, which supports the fastest Wi-Fi speeds available—up to 3.6 Gbps—over Wi-Fi 6 and 6E.

Camera. With its Snapdragon Sight Technology, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 includes the first commercially available 18-bit mobile image signal processor (ISP), which can capture over 4000 times more camera data than its predecessor. It’s also the first mobile chipset to offer 8K HDR video capture.

AI. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 features a 7th generation Qualcomm AI Engine thanks to its ultra-high performance and efficient Qualcomm Hexagon processor with a 2x faster tensor accelerator and 2x larger shared memory than its predecessor. There’s also a new always-on and low-power AI system that’s powered by the 3rd generation Qualcomm Sensing Hub.

Gaming. The new Qualcomm Adreno GPU provides a 30 percent improvement in graphics rendering capabilities and a 25 percent improvement in power savings compared to the previous generation.

Sound. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 features integrated Bluetooth 5.2, Snapdragon Sound Technology, and Qualcomm aptX Lossless Technology. It’s also the first Snapdragon mobile platform to support all-new LE audio features like broadcast audio, stereo recording, and voice back-channel for gaming.

Security. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is the first Snapdragon platform to feature a dedicated Trust Management Engine for improved security and to provide additional Root of Trust for apps and services. It’s also the world’s first mobile platform to feature Android Ready SE, a  new standard for digital car keys, drivers’ licenses, and more. And its Qualcomm Secure Processing Unit features support for iSIM, a new integrated SIM card that lets users more easily and securely connect to cellular networks without a SIM card.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 will ship in devices from Black Shark, Honor, iQOO, Motorola, Nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, Redmi, SHARP, Sony Corporation, vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE, with the first devices expected by the end of 2021.

You can learn more about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 from the Qualcomm website.