Good evening all, let’s talk about the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3, the latest SoC from Qualcomm. This SoC is interesting as there are several things that some of us may learn about SoCs.
So let’s rewind back to 2018. The year that Qualcomm decided to revolutionize the market to stave off the competition from MediaTek. Qualcomm’s idea was very simple. Remodel old tech that is now cheaper for the Midrange to improve performance. That’s where the Snapdragon 6 and 7 series (formerly 600 and 700 series) came from.
The 600 series made use of the Cortex A73 CPUs while the 700 series skipped the Cortex A75 series and moved straight to the Cortex A76. Before that, the A73 and A76 were former flagship CPU cores that were repurposed for the Midrange segment.
Then after 2021, there was a change in Qualcomm’s policy because MediaTek started to seriously encroach on their high-end turf with the Dimensity 9000 series and later 8000 series.
The only Midrange SoC they made that period was the Snapdragon 695. In fact, there was a period that Qualcomm went without making any SoC for the Midrange to fully focus on the high end. When Qualcomm returned to the Midrange in 2022, they had rebranded their naming scheme and made it a point of note to only introduce new SoCs.
There was nothing wrong with this approach as it offered freshness and variety to the market but these SoCs were (are) very expensive!
These included:
- Snapdragon 7 (7 Gen 1, 7s Gen 2, 7 Gen 3, 7+ Gen 2, 7+ Gen 3)
- Snapdragon 6 (6 Gen 1, 6s Gen 3)
- Snapdragon 4 (4 Gen 1, 4 Gen 2)
In the meantime, MediaTek was busy renaming old SoCs as new ones and selling them. This strategy being highly effective for them. Their best example being the Helio G96 to Helio G99 rebrand or the Helio G96 to Dimensity 6020, 6080 and 6100+.
Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 review
It didn’t take long for Qualcomm to realize this strategy is effective. So instead of designing a new architecture from scratch, they have quietly dropped the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3. The only thing on point about this SoC is that it is a Midrange SoC. Beyond that it isn’t entirely what it seems.
| Specs | |
|---|---|
| CPU cores |
|
| GPU | Adreno 619 |
| Process | 6nm TSMC |
| ISA | ARMv8.2-A |
| Benchmarks | AnTuTu 10: 500,000 |
| RAM | LPDDR4X (2133MHz) |
| Storage | UFS 2.2 |
| ISP | Spectra |
| NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon DSP |
| Camera | 108MP |
| Video | 1080p@30fps |
| Network | Snapdragon X51 5G Modem, LTE Cat 18, SA & NSA 5G |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.2 |
| WiFi | WiFi 5 |
| Display | FHD+ @120Hz |
Performance
This SoC uses 2 Cortex A78 and 6 Cortex A55 CPU cores clocked at 2.3GHz. This will give you about 500k points on AnTuTu and 2,700 on GeekBench (multi core). This is more than enough to handle most tasks on Android but not the really serious ones.
When you look at this set up, you’ll see that it is simply a slightly sped up Snapdragon 695.
This is where the first important lesson comes in. The name of an SoC does not matter. Its architecture and performance is what does. Many tech illiterates are going to look at the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 and the older 6 Gen 1 and will assume that the newer 6s Gen 3 is more powerful. They’ll be in for a very rude shock. The older 6 Gen 1 is more powerful than the Snapdragon 695 and it is also more powerful than the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3.
In simple mathematical terms
SD 6 Gen 1 > SD 6s Gen 3
That will then take us to the second lesson. Qualcomm’s naming scheme will throw curve balls at you from time to time. Recent examples being:
SD 7+ Gen 2 > SD 7 Gen 3
SD 7 Gen 1 > SD 7s Gen 2
Graphics
On this one, you’ll find the Adreno 619, a slightly sped up version of the legendary Adreno 618. This GPU is what you’ll find on the Snapdragon 732G and Snapdragon 695.
If you’ve used any phone with Snapdragon 730, 730G, 720G, 732G, Helio G90T and G95 (similar GPU power), then you’ll have seen the power of the Adreno 619.
Memory and Storage
It retains last gen’s LPDDR4X RAM (2133MHz) and UFS 2.2 support. This is the standard for mid-rangers now.
Camera and Video
It supports 108MP cameras, 1080p video and supports 1080p displays of 120Hz. Nothing out of the ordinary. Camera and video output will depend on the camera sensor and software applied.
Network
It retains the Snapdragon X51 5G modem from the Snapdragon 695 with support 4G LTE (Cat 18), Sub-6GHz NSA 5G (Up to 2500 Mbps), WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1.
Author’s Notes
So this SoC is basically a slightly faster Snapdragon 695.
This would then take me to the last thing. Until the recent release of CPUs like the Cortex A710, A715, and A720, there were no SoCs that were tailor made for the Midrange.
Usually what the companies did was to wait for a CPU to grow old and then use it for the Midrange segment. The Cortex A73 on the Snapdragon 660, 665, 662, 680 and 685 was once flagship. The Cortex A76 on the Snapdragon 730, 730G, 720G, 732G, Helio G90T, G99, Dimensity 6080, 6100 etc was once a flagship CPU. If you check the once almighty Snapdragon 855 from 2018, you’ll see Cortex A76 CPU cores there.
I expect that since the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 is a rebrand, we may find that Qualcomm could sell it quite cheaply. Call me a prophet but some brands may finally be able to afford a Snapdragon chip and put it in their next “gaming” phone or something. This could be 6 months or 1 year down the line when we here at Inquisitive Universe have moved on (See: The Helio G99 craze as proof).
So that’s the all you need to know about the latest Snapdragon 6s Gen 3.
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