Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip announced : The new upper mid-range chip from Qualcomm

Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip announced The new upper mid-range chip from Qualcomm-1

Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip was another chip launched by Qualcomm at “Snapdragon Night” event in China, along with the flagship chip Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip.

The new Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 is the first upper mid-range chip from Qualcomm with new naming scheme which starts with 8 Gen X and not 7XX.

Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 is successor to much popular Snapdragon 778g/780G series chip.

Quick Specs of Snapdragon 7+ Gen 1 and comparison with Snapdragon 778G/780G8

CPU
GPU
Memory<br>Controller
ISP/Camera
Encode/<br>Decode
Integrated Modem
Mfc. Process
Snapdragon 7 Gen 1
CPU
1x Cortex-A710 @ 2.4 GHz
3x Cortex-A710 @ 2.36 GHz
4x Cortex-A510 @ 1.8 GHz
GPU
Adreno
Memory<br>Controller
2x 16-bit CH
@ 3200MHz LPDDR5 / 25.6GB/s
ISP/Camera
Triple 14-bit Spectra ISP

1x 200MP or 84MP with ZSL
or
64+20MP with ZSL
or
3x 25MP with ZSL

4K HDR video & 64MP burst capture
Encode/<br>Decode
4K30 10-bit H.265
Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, HLG
720p480 infinite recording
Integrated Modem
X62 Integrated

(5G NR Sub-6 + mmWave)
DL = 4400 Mbps
Mfc. Process
Samsung 4nm
Snapdragon 778G | 780G
CPU
1x Cortex-A78 @ 2.4 GHz
3x Cortex-A78 @ 2.2 GHz
4x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz(778G) @1.9(780G)
GPU
Adreno 642
Memory<br>Controller
2x 16-bit CH
@ 2133MHz LPDDR4X / 17.0GB/s
ISP/Camera
Triple 14-bit Spectra 570 ISP

1x 192MP or 84MP with ZSL
or
64+20MP with ZSL
or
3x 25MP with ZSL
Encode/<br>Decode
4K30, 1080p120
H.264 & H.265
10-bit HDR pipelines
Integrated Modem
X53 Integrated

(5G NR Sub-6 4×4 100MHz)
DL = 3300 Mbps
Mfc. Process
Samsung 6LPE(778G) | Samsung 5LPE(778G)

The implementation of cores in Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 is similar to 780G series. The configuration is 1+3+4. Rather than using 3 different cores like 8+ Gen 1, only the two types of are cores used.

The high-performance Cortex-A710 is first used at 2.4 GHz frequency (1) then the same core is there in group of 3 at 2.36 GHz (3). The high-efficiency core Cortex-A510 (4) is implemented in a group of 4 each clocked at 1.8GHz.

Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip announced The new upper mid-range chip from Qualcomm - Overall

Along with cores (which are now using Armv9.0 IS), the memory support of 7 Gen 1 is also updated. Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 now has LPDDR5 capabilities, supporting up to the same LPDDR5-6400 data rates as the 8 Gen 1.

This means the 7 Gen 1 can access up to 25.6 GB/second of memory bandwidth in with a 2×16-bit channel memory bus configuration.

Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip announced The new upper mid-range chip from Qualcomm - Gaming

The GPU also find improvements but with launch of 8 Gen 1 Qualcomm dropped naming for GPU, which is followed in 7 Gen 1 as well. The GPU is just “Adreno”. Qualcomm claims the GPU in 7 Gen 1 is 20% better than in 778G.

Qualcomm is already stressing much on gaming performance with 7 Gen 1. The mobile gaming is already a giant market. There is also Adreno Frame Motion Engine, which can double the frame rate to upscale game content while maintaining the same power consumption.

The manufacturing process used by Qualcomm for 7 Gen 1 is Samsung 4 nm. Here the company has decided to stick with Samsung for their manufacturing and not going TSMC route. This decision makes sense, as 7 Gen 1 is not a Flagship chip and TSMC is already going tight with their production. Going with TSMC may have caused delay in production, even though their process is better than Samsung.

Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip announced The new upper mid-range chip from Qualcomm - Camera improvements

The new ISP (Image signal processing) inside 7 Gen 1 “Spectra ISP” is also improved. The ISP inside 7 gen 1 can now process 200 MP in single camera mode, which is first in 7 series. The 14-bit Spectra Triple ISP supports for simultaneous 3 cameras. The ISP is the same as that of 8G1, but a bit scaled down.

With Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X62 integrated modem in the 7G1, the cellular connectivity of the chip finds great boost. The X62 inside 7G1 is capable of reaching download speeds up to 4.4Gbps, a 33% improvement over its predecessor(778G/X523). Furthermore, the new modem has inbuilt support for mmWave 5G (not present in 778G) and supports additional 5G bands.

Ending with the AI capabilities, Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 features up to 30% improved AI performance.

Availability of 7 Gen 1 chip and Mobile Phone Brands launching with 7 Gen 1 chip

Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 will be available on mobile devices from around Q2 of this year 2022. This means soon. The chip is adopted by leading mobile phone brands including HONOR, OPPO, and Xiaomi.

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