If you follow Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips, you’ll know the company has several levels of phone processors. Over the weekend, Qualcomm quietly released its latest version in the flagship-lite category—the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. This chip is designed for people who want high-end performance without paying the full price of a flagship model. It’s the follow-up to 2024’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and promises some serious improvements.
The “s” in the name means this chip sits between Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite and its more affordable Snapdragon 7 series. While people were expecting a refresh, the features in this new version are still quite impressive – and, in some cases, surprising.
Big boosts in performance and features
Even though Qualcomm has already launched new Oryon CPUs in some of its chips for phones and laptops, the company isn’t retiring its older ones yet. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 uses an 8-core Kyro CPU. It includes one powerful Cortex-X4 core running at 3.2GHz, three Cortex-A720 cores at 3.0GHz, two more A720 cores at 2.8GHz, and two slower ones at 2.0GHz. This setup balances strong performance with good energy use.
According to Qualcomm’s brief, compared to its previous version, you can expect up to 39% better CPU performance, a 49% jump in graphics (GPU), and a 44% boost in AI processing. These numbers suggest the chip is much faster and smarter than before.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 also borrows top-tier features from the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The 18-bit Triple AI Image Signal Processor (ISP) lets your phone use three cameras simultaneously and apply AI enhancements. There’s also 4K Limitless Segmentation, which allows real-time adjustments to over 250 objects in a video or photo.
Regarding AI, Qualcomm has doubled the chip’s shared memory size, making it faster and better at handling advanced tasks like real-time translation, image editing, and smart camera effects.
Better connectivity, gaming, and everyday use
You’ll also get solid future-proofing when it comes to connectivity. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 supports Bluetooth 6.0 and Wi-Fi 7, delivering speeds of up to 5.8Gbps. It uses the Snapdragon X75 5G modem – a newer and advanced option, although not quite as cutting-edge as the Snapdragon X80 used in the Elite version.
If you enjoy mobile gaming, this chip might be what you’re after. It comes with all the Snapdragon Elite Gaming features, which means smooth gameplay, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and support for high-end visuals, just like you’d find in a top-end phone.
Other features worth noting include support for fast UFS 4.0 storage, USB 3.1 Gen 2, LPDDR5X RAM up to 4,800MHz, and Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 5.0. It can also power WQHD+ displays up to 144Hz, making it ideal for high-resolution, fast-refresh screens.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is a strong choice if you want a high-performance phone but don’t need all the extras of the most expensive models. It offers many of the best features from Qualcomm’s flagship chip but in a more affordable package.
Qualcomm confirmed that this new processor will soon be found in phones from Xiaomi, OPPO, Meizu, and others. While there’s no exact release date, the first phones with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 are expected to arrive later in the year.
