Prior to the release of the Samsung Galaxy S25, a lot of speculation focused on whether it would run on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 3. Now Qualcomm has revealed another chip that could bring a major upgrade to mid-range phones: the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4. This chip could bring upgraded performance, AI, and connectivity to more budget-friendly devices.
Let’s start with its performance. The Qualcomm Kryo CPU brings a 10% improvement in general performance, while the Adreno GPU bumps graphical performance by 30%. Those might not seem like huge gains, but even a small amount of performance increase can yield dividends down the line.
The biggest change comes from the improved gaming performance, however. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is a more battery-efficient chip, so playing Genshin Impact won’t drain your phone quite as fast. More importantly, though, games will just look better thanks to the new Game Super Resolution feature.
This scales graphics up to 4K, while the Adreno Frame Motion Engine can improve framerates without killing the battery. Yes, that means you can play Infinity Nikki without the screen stuttering.
Another big selling point is the AI support. This is the first Snapdragon 6 chip that supports Generative AI, so any phone that uses it will be able to handle things like text creation and content summaries.
From a purely technical perspective, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 has 2.4GHz clock speed, a peak download speed of around 2.9Gbps, and support for 140 MHz bandwidth and 200MHz mmWave bandwidth.
This chip brings a lot to the table, but evaluating its performance in real-world scenarios will have to wait till after launch. According to Qualcomm, Realme, Oppo, and Honor will all release phones over the next few months powered by this chip. More companies will likely also adapt this chip, which means the western market could see big upgrades to more affordable handsets over the next year.
Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it’s a…
It looks like September 10 is going to be a big day for the iPhone
Following a summer filled with new phones from Samsung and Google, it’s almost time for Apple fans to get their time in the spotlight. According to a new report, Apple’s next iPhone event will be held on September 10.
Rumors of the September 10 date aren’t new, though the latest report comes from a pretty trustworthy source: Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. According to “people familiar with the situation,” September 10 is the day we’ll see the iPhone 16, the Apple Watch Series 10, and more.
Read more
This new Snapdragon chip will transform AI on cheaper phones
Qualcomm is capitalizing on the increased interest around AI with its latest smartphone chip announcement. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 processor supports generative AI capabilities and several large language models (LLMs) to help midrange devices compete with their flagship counterparts, which have seen AI increasingly used as a major selling point.
Qualcomm’s general manager of mobile handsets, Chris Patrick, confirmed the company’s intention with the chip in the press release, saying:
Read more
The Google Home app is getting a major overhaul. Here’s what it looks like
Just days after announcing its fourth-generation Nest Learning Thermostat, Google is set to change the Google Home app. As first noted by Android Police, this will revamp how users interact with their compatible devices.
The updated app, part of the Google Home Public Preview version 3.20.1.8, has been revised, including the thermostat controls and the general UI. The refresh also relocates the Nest app and Energy Dashboard icons underneath the main thermostat controls; they now look like pills. Meanwhile, the settings cog and overflow menu remain at the app’s top.
Read more