Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 appeared out of nowhere on the company’s website official website The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 was released two years ago. It is the third chipset in the Snapdragon 6 series, alongside the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and the 6s Gen 3. The company skipped the 6 Gen 2, launching the 6 Gen 3 as a direct successor to the two-year-old 6 Gen 1. However, how big is the performance difference? What new features does the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 bring? In short, nothing significant. To answer the question in detail, I dissect the latest Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset, and here are my honest thoughts on it!
Just a slightly overclocked Snapdragon 6 Gen 1?
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 features four Cortex-A78 performance cores clocked at 2.4 GHz and three Cortex-A55 efficiency cores clocked at 1.8 GHz. Additionally, the chipset is based on a 4nm process nodesimilar to the 6 Gen 1. Side by side, here’s how the two chipsets compare:
| Specifications | Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 | Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing process | 4 nm | 4 nm |
| Processor | 4x Cortex-A78 @ 2.4 GHz 4x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz | 4x Cortex-A78 @ 2.2 GHz 4x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 710 | Adreno 710 |
| RAM | Up to 3200 MHz LPDDR5 | Up to 3200 MHz LPDDR5 |
| Display | Full HD+ at 120 Hz | Full HD+ at 120 Hz |
| ISP | 12 bits | 12 bits |
| Camera | 200 MP, 48 MP, zero shutter lag | 200 MP, 48 MP, zero shutter lag |
| Video | 4K at 30fps | 4K at 30fps |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Loading | QuickCharge 4+ | QuickCharge 4+ |
The difference is as big as the one between the Snapdragon 695 and the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3. In other words, there is no major difference here. Instead of the performance cores being clocked at 2.2GHz, 6 Gen 3 takes it up to 2.4GHz.
So basically the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 is just 6 Gen 1 on steroidsYou get identical camera and video capabilities as well as connectivity support, so the 6 Gen 3 doesn’t bring anything new.
Although Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 On-device AI delivers 20% better AI performanceI doubt this is a real improvement. If so, only a series of AI tests will be able to prove it to us. Ultimately…
Qualcomm Misleads Customers With Name Change
A few months ago, when I tried to explain Qualcomm’s chipset naming system, I realized what a maze it was. So now we have the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 and 6s Gen 3, but no 6 Gen 2 series chipset? And it turns out that the 6 Gen 3 is just a slightly overclocked 6 Gen 1. What is Qualcomm doing with its entry-level chipsets? Is it acceptable for the American chipmaker to simply fool its customers with a thankless clock speed increase and name change?
To top it all off, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, which comes from the high-end Snapdragon 7 series, also comes very close to the 6 Gen 3 in terms of performance. The only difference between the two is that instead of the four efficiency cores clocked at 1.8GHz, the 7s Gen 2 has them. clocked at 1.95 GHz.
Furthermore, All three chipsets use the same Adreno 710 GPU However, the 7s Gen 2 can support displays up to FHD+ at 144Hz.
With each passing day, Qualcomm is making the naming system more complicated than it needs to be. Gone are the good old days when we knew that the Snapdragon 888 would definitely be an upgrade from the Snapdragon 870.
While it’s not yet clear which phone will be the first to feature the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, we do know that it will be essentially as powerful as a two-year-old phone running the 6 Gen 1 without any substantial gains. And, at first glance, the processor’s existence makes no sense to me.
What do you think about the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3? Do you also think it’s useless? If not, why not? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!