As the successor to last year's Snapdragon 888, the Snapdragon 8 Gen1 is the first chipset to adopt Qualcomm's new naming scheme, ditching the nickname qualcomm previously used to base its three-digit numbering system on the new generation.

As is the case every year, Qualcomm promised some major improvements to the Snapdragon 8 Gen1, including better performance, camera technology, ai features, security and support for 5G.

Starting with the hard specs, as expected,The Snapdragon 8 Gen1 is Qualcomm's first chip to use Arm's latest Armv9 architecture.

Specifically, the new octa-core Kryo CPU will be equipped with a 3.0GHz Cortex-X2 main core, three 2.5GHz Cortex-A710 performance cores, and a quad Cortex-based efficiency core. — A510 design, frequency is 1.8GHz.

In addition, the new chip jumped from the 5nm process used to build Snapdragon 888 to a 4nm process.

All in all,Qualcomm promises the Snapdragon 8 Gen1 will offer up to a 20% performance boost and up to 30% energy efficiency over last year's models.

Meanwhile, the new AdrenoGPU (much like Gen1's KryoCPU, qualcomm didn't provide specific numbers for the updated hardware here) promises a 30% graphics rendering speed increase, plus a 25% increase in energy efficiency compared to Snapdragon.

It will also offer a new GPU control panel for fine-tuning the way games run on mobile phones.

Making its debut on the Snapdragon 8 Gen1 is Qualcomm's Snapdragon X65 modem, which promises a full set of 5G features and initiatives.

As Qualcomm's fourth generation 5G modem, it builds on previous existing millimeter-wave and sub-6ghz compatibility, adding support for speeds up to 10Gbps and the latest 3GPPRelease16 specification.

As usual, you almost certainly won't see this kind of speed in the real world.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen1 also supports wi-FI6 and Wi-FI6E, Bluetooth LE Audio (a Qualcomm initiative) and the company's Snapdragon Sound technology for lossless wireless audio with AptX.

In keeping with qualcomm's tradition of top-of-the-line processors, the company puts a lot of emphasis on its enhanced camera features,For the first time bundle it in a new “ Snapdragon Sight” Under the brand.

While Spectra ISP is once again a triple ISP system, snapdragon 8 Gen1 upgrades the system to an 18-bit system (from the 14-bit system on 888). This means a 4,096 fold increase in camera data, with up to four additional stops added to dynamic range for very bright or very dark scenes.

Triple ISP (Image Signal Processor) also allows 240 12-megapixel photos to be taken in one second or simultaneously at 8K HDR, while 64 megapixel still images due to increased throughput of 3.2 megapixels per second.

Qualcomm also offers more high-end camera features out of the box, including support for shooting 8K video using the HDR10 Plus and shooting in 18-bit RAW (assuming your phone has the actual camera hardware to shoot).

The 8 Gen1 also features a variety of other imaging improvements, including better dark mode pictures that can use data from up to 30 images in a single take (up from 6 images on 888).

There are also many better AI processing technologies, including improved autoexposure, autofocus and automatic face detection, dedicated & LDquo; Bokeh engine & RDquo; Used to add portrait effects to 4K videos, and “ Ultra Wide Angle engine & RDQUO; Can eliminate - distortion and eliminate chromatic aberration in lens.

Qualcomm has also added a fourth ISP, a dedicated sensing center on the SoC: Unlike the main camera's triple ISP, the new ISP is specifically designed to power always-on cameras that are always active.

Qualcomm has some big ambitions for what developers can do with the alway camera, like automatically turning off your screen when you put your phone down or when it detects someone trying to read over your shoulder.

While the idea of an always-on camera raises some obvious security issues, Qualcomm believes the feature is designed to help you use your device more securely by keeping any camera data from an always-on camera in a secure enclave in a chip locally on the device.

In addition, customers will be able to choose to use an always-on camera, much like the way they can choose whether to use the always-listening microphone feature for voice assistants.

However, increased functionality. — And how manufacturers can implement it into their devices, if they do. — This will be something to watch when the first chips with Snapdragon 8 Gen1 come out.

On the AI front, the Snapdragon 8 Gen1 is powered by Qualcomm's latest Hexagon processor with a seventh-generation AI engine, which the company claims is four times faster than its predecessor and 1.7 times more energy efficient.

Qualcomm demonstrated a variety of use cases where enhanced AI capabilities could be made possible, including the aforementioned camera features and a simulation of leica lenses. Leica LeitzLook mode & RDquo; And improved detection of where you're holding your phone to optimize antenna performance. this

Additionally, Qualcomm is adding AI-based sampling to provide DLSS style effects to improve mobile gaming, which is said to happen automatically when playing games on 8 Gen1.

Finally, there are security improvements. In addition to supporting the AndroidReadySE standard and supporting digital car keys, driver's licenses, ID cards and electronic devices, the Snapdragon 8 Gen1 is also available via & LDquo; Special trust Management engine & RDquo; A new hardware-level security layer has been added, as well as built-in iSIM support for connecting directly to cellular networks.

Despite the new branding, the Snapdragon 8 Gen1 doesn't seem to break the Qualcomm chip mold and delivers the routine upgrades we've come to expect from the company's annual flagship product.

Still, in A world where custom chips like Google's Tensor or Apple's A-series processors are increasingly popular, it's good to see that Qualcomm has no intention of slowing down its own top-of-the-line chips, even as competition heats up.

With the first Snapdragon 8 Gen1 smartphone expected before the end of 2021, it won't be long before we see just how powerful Qualcomm's latest chips are for ourselves.