Don’t Be Fooled: Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 Is a Rebranded Three-Year-Old Chip
Qualcomm has been on a roll and quite busy recently in launching the X Elite series of processors for laptops. The semiconductor giant has unveiled a new mid-range Snapdragon processor, the 6s Gen 3. At first glance, it reminded us of the Snapdragon 695. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 is an octa-core SoC fabricated on a6nmprocess. It features Kryo cores that work atup to 2.3 GHzmax frequency, and like other“s” SoCs,the 6s Gen 3 comes with an AI engine that can be leveraged by various on-device AI tasks. Qualcomm hasn’t shared detailed info about the cores and their clock speeds, which is a bummer.
The latest chip supports displays of up to 120Hz and FHD+ resolution. Network-wise, it supports Wi-Fi 4 and 5 through Qualcomm’s FastConnect 6200 system.
There’s support for Bluetooth 5.2, rear camera resolution of up to 108 MP, and 1080p 60fps video playback. The supported memory and storage types are LPDDR4x and UFS 2.2. NFC support is also present.
The standout feature of the “s” series is that it’s powered by Qualcomm’s AI engine. This includes better AI-enhanced low-light shots, multiple AI voice assistants, lower power consumption for audio, voice, and sensors, and finally, multi-mic far-field detection and echo cancellation.
Motorola’s upcoming Moto G85 could become one of the first devices to feature this SoC and it is rumored to launch soon.
Snapdragon 6s Gen 3: A Rebranded Snapdragon 695?
The Snapdragon 695 which is almost a three-year-old SoC at this point, is suspiciously similar to 6s Gen 3, making the latter a rebranded SoC. For starters, Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 was also a rebranded 695. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the new 6s Gen 3 and 2021’s Snapdragon 695. Besides the 100 MHz slower clock speed, everything is identical.SpecificationsSnapdragon 6s Gen 3Snapdragon 695Cores and Clock speed2 x Cortex-A78 @ 2.3 GHz and 6 x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz2 x Cortex-A78 @ 2.2 GHz and 6 x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHzFabrication Process6nm6nmRAM and Storage typeLPDDR 4X at 2133 MHz and UFS 2.2LPDDR 4X at 2133 MHz and UFS 2.2Display resolution and Refresh rateFHD+ up to 120HzFHD+ up to 120HzGPUAdreno 619Adreno 619ModemX51 5GX51 5GConnectivityFastConnect 6200FastConnect 6200Max rear camera resolution108MP108MPVideo recording1080p@60fps1080p@60fpsCharging TechQualcomm Quick Charge 4+Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+Bluetooth and Wi-FiBluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 4, 5Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 4, 5
One of the reasons why Qualcomm does this is to put people under the false impression that a processor with “Gen 3” in its name should be the latest and more powerful than, say 6 Gen 1 when, in reality, the 6s Gen 3 will perform worse than 6 Gen 1. Qualcomm needs to figure out its naming scheme as the current one is quite confusing and to some extent, misleading.
What are your thoughts on the new mid-range Snapdragon 6s Gen 3? Let us know in the comments.
Abubakar Mohammed
Abubakar covers Tech on Beebom. Hailing from a Computer Science background, the start of his love for Tech dates back to 2011, when he was gifted a Dell Inspiron 5100. When he’s not covering Tech, you’ll find him binge-watching anime and Tech content on YouTube, hunting heads in competitive FPS games, or exploring Teyvat in Genshin Impact. He has previously worked for leading publications such as Fossbytes, How-To Geek, and Android Police.
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