Qualcomm Unveils Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the 'Brain' of Galaxy S23

'2022 Snapdragon Summit' Unveils
"2023 Flagship Smartphone Industry Innovation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Detailed information about Qualcomm's next-generation smartphone application processor (AP) 'Snapdragon 8 Gen 2,' expected to be installed in next year's Galaxy S23, has been revealed.

Qualcomm announced on the 16th that it unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 at the '2022 Snapdragon Summit' held from the 15th to 17th of this month (local time). The AP is a core system semiconductor that acts as the brain of smartphones and other mobile devices.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is powered by its own artificial intelligence (AI) engine. Users can utilize multilingual translation and excellent AI camera features based on the enhanced Snapdragon Hexagon processor. They can also experience faster natural language processing.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 also supports a better camera experience. Through semantic segmentation, it automatically enhances photo and video performance in real time. Semantic segmentation uses an AI neural network to recognize faces, facial shapes, hair, clothing, sky, and more, optimizing each accordingly.

It also supports new image sensors. Sony's image sensor is the world's first quad digital overlap HDR technology optimized for Snapdragon. Samsung's ISOCELL HP3 is the first 200-megapixel image sensor optimized for Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is also the first Snapdragon to support AV1 codec, enabling video playback up to 8K HDR at 60 frames per second.

New Snapdragon Elite Gaming features are also supported. The enhanced Qualcomm Adreno graphics processing unit (GPU) offers up to 25% faster performance, and the Qualcomm Kryo central processing unit (CPU) provides up to 40% improved power efficiency, extending battery life.

Connectivity features include 5G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Qualcomm explains that AI is used to provide revolutionary 5G upload and download speeds, coverage, latency, and power efficiency. It is the first Snapdragon platform to support 5G+5G/4G dual SIM dual active, allowing two 5G SIMs to be used simultaneously. It supports spatial audio with dynamic head tracking and offers 48kHz lossless audio streaming.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, secured by Snapdragon Secure, offers the latest features such as isolation, encryption, key management, and attestation, meticulously designed to protect users' data and privacy.

Smartphones equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 are expected to be available starting next year. The Galaxy S23 is also anticipated to feature this processor. Previously, Qualcomm CFO Akash Palkhiwala stated at the Q4 (July-September) earnings briefing that "the application rate of Qualcomm's AP in the Galaxy S23 will rise to 100%." This led to speculation that the Qualcomm AP installed in the Galaxy S23 will likely be the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

Chris Patrick, Senior Vice President of Qualcomm Technologies and Head of the Mobile Handset Division, said, "Qualcomm Technologies supports users to do more and prioritizes this in designing Snapdragon," adding, "Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will revolutionize the flagship smartphone industry across 2023."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.