Qualcomm's New Snapdragon Mobile Platforms Have Some Bite

Qualcomm has two new Snapdragon mobile platforms on the way, designed to deliver "breakthrough experiences."

In an unsurprising move, Qualcomm continues to iterate on its Snapdragon chips to eke out more power and performance with each new model. We only just saw the release of the Snapdragon 8 earlier this year, and now the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 (along with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1) is already on the way.

The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 offers what Qualcomm refers to as Snapdragon Elite Gaming features—increasing frame rates without extra power draw, faster rendering, and so on. It also allows users to snap pictures using all three device cameras simultaneously or take photos at 200MP. And, in what Qualcomm is calling a first for the Snapdragon 7, it also includes a Trust Management Engine and tamper-resistant hardware.

As for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, Qualcomm boasts even better gaming performance with "desktop-level capabilities," faster performance, and about a 30-percent reduction in power use. So games will look good, play smoothly, and will be able to run for longer. It also supports up to 8K high dynamic range video and is capable of capturing billions of colors.

You should be able to find the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in a wide variety of smartphone brands like ASUS ROG, Motorola, OnePlus, OPPO, and more starting in Q3 (July through September).

The SNapdragon 7 Gen 1 will be appearing a bit sooner in Q2 (between now and June) but looks to have a somewhat smaller install base than the 8+ Gen 1. In either case, the overall price and availability will depend on the individual brands and smartphone models.