Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 And 6 Gen 1 Announced; iQOO Z6 Lite To Feature SD 4 Gen 1 In India

The entry-level Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 and mid-range Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipsets from Qualcomm were introduced this week. While the more affordable SD 4 Gen 1 remains on the 6nm node, the 6 Gen 1 is constructed using a 4nm manufacturing method. The SD 4 Gen 1 will launch this quarter, and the first SD 6 Gen 1-powered products are anticipated to appear in Q1 2023.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 Features

As a successor for the Snapdragon 695 chipset, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is built on a 4nm node. Both the GPU and CPU have up to 35% and 40% more performance respectively. With a top clock speed of 2.2GHz, the chip includes four Cortex-A78 and four Cortex-A55 cores. The Adreno GPU is compatible with HDR gaming and supports the Vulkan 1.1, OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 FP APIs, hardware-accelerated H.256, and VP9 decoding.

The chip’s Snapdragon X62 5G Modem-RF system supports both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G connection. The processor also offers the Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 system, which supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 with LE Audio. A 25MP+16MP twin camera system, a single 48MP camera, or up to three 13MP cameras may all be used with the chip’s Qualcomm Spectra 12-bit Triple ISP. The ISP also offers slow-motion 720p video capture at 240FPS, 4K HDR video capture at 30FPS, hardware-based multi-frame noise reduction, and AI-based face identification, auto-focus, and auto-exposure.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 Features

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 replaces the Snapdragon 480+ from last year. This new chip is based on a 6nm node, and offers up to 15% faster CPU performance and 10% better GPU performance than its predecessor. The chipset has an octa-core CPU with two Kryo Prime CPUs Cortex A78-based running at up to 2.0GHz and six Kryo Efficiency CPUs Cortex A55-based running at up to 1.8GHz. On the GPU front, we get an Adreno 619 GPU with support for Vulkan 1.1, OpenGL ES 3.2, and OpenCL 2.0 APIs.

The processor includes a Qualcomm FastConnect 6200 System, which supports Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.2, as well as a Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF system. Additionally, the Qualcomm Spectra 12-bit Triple ISP with Multi-frame Noise Reduction (MFNR) and Triple Concurrent picture and video capture is included with the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1. It can support a 25MP+13MP dual camera system, a maximum of three 13MP cameras, or a single 32MP camera. The ISP also allows for the capturing of HEIC photos, 1080p single video at 60 frames per second, 1080p dual video at 30 frames per second, 720p slow motion video at 120 frames per second, and 1080p single video at 60 frames per second.

The iQOO Z6 Lite smartphone, which will go on sale internationally before the end of September, will include the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 for the first time. Meanwhile, the first SD 6 Gen 1 powered devices are anticipated in the first quarter of 2023.