Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 8s with All-Big-Core Architecture

On April 2, Qualcomm officially unveiled its fourth-generation Snapdragon 8s mobile platform, designed to deliver exceptional entertainment and creative experiences to a broader range of users. Engineered for enhanced performance and power efficiency, this platform provides robust support for mobile gamers and creators, catering to diverse, all-day usage scenarios.

Manufactured using TSMC's 4nm process, the Snapdragon 8s features an innovative CPU architecture with one 3.21GHz Cortex-X4 core, three 3.01GHz Cortex-A720 cores, and two 2.02GHz Cortex-A720 cores. Qualcomm describes this architecture as "1 Ultra Core + 7 Large Cores," achieving a 31% improvement in multi-threaded performance over the previous generation.

The GPU core, Adreno 825, inherits the cutting-edge tiled architecture from the Snapdragon 8 Ultimate Edition. It offers a 49% performance boost and a 39% increase in energy efficiency compared to its predecessor. The advanced Adreno 825 GPU also supports hardware-level ray tracing, Super Resolution 2.0, Adaptive Performance Engine 3.0, and Adreno Motion Engine 2.0, ensuring a smoother and richer gaming experience.

In terms of AI capabilities, the Snapdragon 8s integrates the Hexagon NPU with micro-fusion architecture and double the shared memory of its predecessor. This enhancement delivers a 44% boost in AI performance, supporting leading AI models such as DeepSeek, Baichuan, and Wenxin for multilingual, on-device generative AI functionalities. Additionally, the platform incorporates Qualcomm's Sensor Hub, enhancing AI performance by 60% and significantly reducing power consumption.

For imaging, the Snapdragon 8s adopts the same 18-bit triple ISP as the Snapdragon 8 Ultimate Edition. It supports Night Vision, real-time skin tone and sky correction, and infinite semantic segmentation for advanced photography and video features.

In connectivity, the platform integrates the Snapdragon X75 5G modem-RF system, achieving peak download speeds of 4.2Gbps for 5G and 5.8Gbps for Wi-Fi 7. It is also equipped with Bluetooth 6.0 for improved wireless performance. Notably, the Snapdragon 8s series supports Qualcomm's expanded personal area network for the first time, allowing Bluetooth headsets to maintain connectivity via Wi-Fi when out of Bluetooth range.

Leading OEMs and brands, including Redmi, iQOO, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Xingji Meizu, are expected to adopt the Snapdragon 8s platform. Commercial devices powered by this platform are anticipated to launch in the coming months. According to available reports, the Redmi Turbo 4 Pro is likely to be the first model featuring the fourth-generation Snapdragon 8s.