Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2 last week, and it’s clear that this is a major step up on paper for the mid-tier Snapdragon 7 series.
The new chipset brings an impressive CPU system reminiscent of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 series, consisting of a single Cortex-X2 core at 2.91GHz, three Cortex-A710 cores at 2.49GHz, and four Cortex-A510 cores at 1.8GHz. This marks the first time a Cortex-X CPU core appears in a Snapdragon 7 series chipset. There’s also an upgraded Adreno GPU, with Qualcomm boasting a two-fold performance boost over the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1.
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What does this all mean in terms of actual performance, though? We were able to benchmark a Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2 reference handset ahead of launch to get a better idea of what to expect.
About the reference design
Of course, Qualcomm’s reference devices aren’t commercial phones. These are basically prototypes meant for internal testing. It’s worth noting that reference designs typically tend to be somewhat bulky compared to commercial handsets, although this particular handset is comparatively svelte. We’re still expecting varying results for commercial devices, though, owing to software, cooling systems employed, and different designs.
Nevertheless, the Qualcomm reference design brings a 6.65-inch 144Hz OLED screen (FHD+), 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, and a 4,192mAh battery. The phone doesn’t have an active cooling system, such as a fan, either.
Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2: A flagship-level processor?
Benchmarking reveals that we’re looking at a chipset that’s at least as powerful as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 from a CPU perspective. That’s no mean feat, and it’s a good sign for those who value speed, be it for everyday performance or those who intend to keep their phones for a few years.
Mid-range processors usually display a significant GPU performance gap even when compared to older flagship chips. The bad news is that the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2 is not quite an exception when it comes to one-off GPU tests. There’s still a big gap between Qualcomm’s mid-range and flagship silicon. However, the less capable GPU managed to edge edges out flagship chips from Samsung and Google.
The good news is that we could be looking at rock-solid sustained performance here owing to the 4nm TSMC design and ostensibly reduced GPU clock speed. The chipset is even capable of beating some Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 series phones in a stress test.
Again, this is just a reference design, but those on the hunt for sustained gaming performance on a budget should keep an eye on phones with the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait too long, as Qualcomm confirmed that the first phones are coming this month. The company also name-dropped Redmi and realme as brands working on devices with this chipset.
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