Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 – A new midrange era begins

Qualcomm has announced a new refresh to its Snapdragon 700 series and the name of the new SoC is Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. This naming scheme draws from the new naming scheme used on the 800 series flagships like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+.

The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 (SD7Gen1) takes over from the Snapdragon 780G as the new premier SoC of the 700 series. This series was originally designed to bridge the gap between the midrange and the flagship segment and the SD7Gen1 seems primed to do just that.


Read: Samsung Exynos vs. Qualcomm Snapdragon


Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 specs

CPU and GPU

  • Big cores: 4x Kryo based on ARM Cortex A710
  • Small cores: 4x Kryo based on ARM Cortex A510
  • Clock speed: TBA
  • GPU: Adreno 662
  • Microarchitecture: big.LITTLE octa-core
  • Instruction Set: ARMv9
  • Fab node: 4nm

Memory

  • Type: LPDDR4x, LPDDR5
  • Speed: 3200MHz
  • Channels: Up to 4 buses

MultiMedia

  • Image Signal Processor: Qualcomm Spectra
  • AI: Qualcomm Hexagon DSP
  • Images: 200MP (1x), 64+20MP (2x), 25MP (3x)
  • Video: 4K HDR video @ 30FPS
  • Storage: up to UFS 3.1, 3.2

Display

  • Resolution: QHD @60Hz, FHD+ @144Hz

Connectivity

  • Bluetooth: 5.3
  • WiFi: 6E
  • Modem: Snapdragon X62 5G
  • USB: 3.1

Read: What is Qualcomm’s Kryo CPU core?


Performance

The SD7Gen1 comes armed with very powerful CPU cores, the A710 and the A510. For context, the A510 small cores are as powerful as the old A73 cores whilst using less than half the power. The A710 cores are more powerful than the A78 cores. The clock speeds for the cores are currently unknown.

This is some serious power and it gets even better. There is also a new Adreno 662 GPU on board. This SoC is an ARMv9 type and uses the good old big.LITTLE arrangement. Qualcomm has also confirmed that it is going to be built on a 4nm process.


Read: Why Extended Memory is a scam


Memory

The SD7Gen1 supports the latest LPDDR5 technology with speeds of up to 3200MHz. This means that phones using SD7Gen1 can support up to 16GB of memory.


Read: What are ISPs?


Multimedia

Qualcomm has failed to tell us the type of ISP or Hexagon cores used for the SD7Gen1. All I can tell you is that it supports single cameras of up to 200MP. It also supports dual (64+25MP) and triple (25MP+25MP+25MP) camera setups.

It can record videos up to resolutions of 4K at 30FPS.

Displays

Display resolutions of up to QHD are supported here but, lower resolutions like FHD would have faster refresh rates.

Connectivity

The SD7Gen1 supports all of the latest flagship connectivity options like Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 6E, 5G networks as well and USB 3.1.


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