Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 announced with some performance enhancements

Qualcomm just dropped its new mid-range phone chip, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4. This is the direct successor to last year’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, built on the same 4nm process and aimed squarely at the next wave of affordable yet powerful phones. Let’s check out everything that it has to offer.

The real upgrades are in the features

The chip keeps the same 1+3+4 Kryo CPU layout as its predecessor. The big change under the bonnet is a tiny speed bump to the main Cortex-A720 prime core, which now runs at 2.7GHz instead of 2.5GHz. The other performance and efficiency cores remain unchanged.

Qualcomm reckons this and an equally tweaked Adreno GPU both deliver a modest 7 percent performance increase. Gamers will also get some new software tricks like the Adaptive Performance Engine 3.0 and Snapdragon Game Super Resolution for a slightly more optimised experience.

Supporting features get upgrades, too. For one, your screen could get a major upgrade since the 7s Gen 4 can now drive ultra-wide 144Hz displays. The chip’s updated Spectra image processor also gets some love.

It’s now ready to wrangle monstrous 200-megapixel photos. The processor also captures 4K video at 30 frames per second in multiple HDR formats including HLG HDR10 and HDR10+.

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AI is also getting a leg up with an improved Hexagon NPU. This allows the chip to run small language models like Llama 1B and Qwen 1B right on the device. That enables neat tricks like real-time translation without needing the cloud.

For connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 6E a Snapdragon 5G modem that supports two 5G SIMs at once and Bluetooth 5.4. Qualcomm is also including its Snapdragon Sound tech with aptX Lossless audio support so your wireless headphones will get a nice high-fidelity treat.

This whole updated package is paired with fast LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage and supports Quick Charge 4+ technology.

If you’re itching to see it in action, you won’t have to wait long. Xiaomi has already called dibs on the new silicon. Its Redmi Note 15 Pro+ is scheduled for a debut this week, where it will be the first phone to sport the new chip.