After the hyper-successful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, Qualcomm has finally announced the next-gen chipset for flagship phones to be released in 2024. Model number SM8650 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC is made on a 4nm node based on 64-bit architecture and brings key upgrades in the CPU, GPU, and AI departments to name a few.
Read ahead to know what the new flagship chipset brings to the table and the list of flagship phones that will host the powerful chipset starting as early as this week.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Highlights
- The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC is made on a 4nm node with a Kryo CPU that promises 30% better performance and 20% better power efficiency.
- The Adreno GPU is programmed for 25% faster graphics rendering and 25% better power efficiency required for seamless gaming and streaming.
- The chipset brings Snapdragon Elite Gaming that supports up to 240Hz display, 240GPS ultra-smooth gaming experience with 40% better HW-accelerated Ray Tracing technology.
- The Snapdragon X75 modem-RF system onboard supports 5G with up to 2.5x AI processing power than the predecessor. It supports peak download speeds of up to 10Gbps and upload speeds of up to 3.5Gbps.
- It supports Wi-Fi 7 with peak speeds of up to 5.8Gbps. It supports High Band Simultaneous Multi-Link Bluetooth technologies with v5.4 support.
- The chipset promises 10% overall power savings
- It has triple frequency support (L1/L5/L2) that promises accurate location positioning.
- The Qualcomm Spectra ISP supports up to 200MP sensors with services such as 8K 30fps or 4K 120fps video, 720p@960gps slow motion, Dolby Vision, Google Ultra HDR, and HDR10+, among others.
- It supports LPDDR5x RAM with up to 4.8GHz peak speed and UFS 4.0 support for storage. [More Technical Specs]
Xiaomi 14 Series
[Updated on October 26]: Xiaomi 14 series became the the first taker of Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. The series comprises two models – Xiaomi 14 and Xiaomi 14 Pro, both have Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC onboard. The flagship bearer at Xiaomi, the vanilla 14 has a 6.36″ LTPO OLED 68B colors 120Hz display while the Pro gets an LTPO AMOLED 68B colors panel with 120Hz refresh rate both lighting up at a whopping 3000 nits of peak brightness.
Both the models have a 50MP triple rear camera setup. They are fueled by a 4,610mAh battery with 90W wired and 50W wireless charging on the vanilla. The Xiaomi 14 Pro gets a 4,880mAh battery with 120W wired and 50W fast wireless charging.
OnePlus 12
After Xiaomi 14, we are hoping the OnePlus 12 will be the first among the takers to get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC under the hood. The flagship device likely packs in a 6.7” 2K AMOLED panel from BOE, up to 16/24GB of RAM, and base 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage. It will bring onboard a 50+50+64MP rear periscope lens setup flanked by a 32MP selfie cam.
The OnePlus 12 is expected to get a power-bumped 5,400mAh battery paired alongside 100W fast wired and 50W fast wireless charging that we reported recently. The latest CAD-based renders for the upcoming flagship give a sneak peek into what’s cooking at OnePlus ahead of its launch scheduled sometime in December in China followed by a global launch early next year.
Samsung Galaxy S24 series
The entire Samsung Galaxy S23 series got their hands on Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC earlier in 2023, however, rumors have it that the Galaxy S23 series will be different. We are expecting either Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC or Exynos 2400 on the vanilla S24 and S24 Plus while the Ultra variant will resort to a single Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC.
As usual, we are expecting a lot from the Samsung Galaxy S24 series including the titanium frame that will make it to the entire series. Apart from that, there’s Android 14-based OneUI 6, 25W fast charging support, and up to 200MP sensors on the device.
Realme GT 5 Pro
It has been some time for the Chinese smartphone maker to launch a true flagship phone but it seems like Realme GT5 Pro is worth the wait. En-route to get Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC once it arrives, GT5 Pro packs in a 50W wireless charging tech, premium design, a triple rear camera with periscope lens, and a 6.82” OLED 2K panel onboard. Realme GT5 Pro too is expected to get a 5400mAh battery with 100W fast charging tech. More about the upcoming flagship will be out soon.
iQOO 12
iQOO confirmed the launch date for iQOO i.e. on November 7 observing the title of the first smartphone in India sporting the all-new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. The device is expected to come up with a 6.7” E7 AMOLED 1.5K resolution panel with a 144Hz refresh rate and a 32MP sensor onboard. A 50+50MP+64MP telephoto triple camera setup will take care of the optics. There’s up to 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage as per the sources. Finally, we could see a mammoth 6000mAh battery in-line with 100W or 120W fast charging tech with the iQOO 12.
Xiaomi Redmi K70 Series
Xiaomi 14 series arrived recently but it’s not the only Xiaomi devices to get their hands on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. Xiaomi Redmi K70 series, speculated to arrive early next month i.e. November in China, will sport the same flagship chipset as Xiaomi 14 Pro. It will be equipped with the best specs to performance ratio and a price tag of CNY 3999 which is considered a great valuable for a flagship phone offering substantial improvement in design, performance, and other areas.
Talking about Xiaomi Redmi K70 specifications, we have heard about a 1.5K resolution panel onboard vanilla variant while the Pro gets a 2K resoolution display. On top of that, Redmi K70 series will be getting Android 14-powered HyperOS in China only to be rebranded to a Poco or other phones with MIUI in the global markets.
