Recently, we tested the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 against the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (see the comparison here), and the latter was way ahead of the 8s Gen 3 in all aspects. However, it’s a close competitor of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and 8 Gen 2 both are octa-core chips built using TSMC’s 4nm process node. However, they share a lot of dissimilarities. In this post, we’ll compare the two chips to find out which one is ahead of the other.
| SD 8s Gen 3 | SD 8 Gen 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Release Date | March 2024 | November 2022 |
| Model number | SM8635 | SM8550-AB |
| Process node | 4nm TSMC | 4nm TSMC |
| CPU | 1 x Cortex-X4 @ 3.0 GHz 4 x Cortex-A720 @ 2.8 GHz 3 x Cortex-A520 @ 2.0 GHz | 1 x Cortex-X3 @ 3.2 GHz 2 x Cortex-A715 @ 2.8 GHz 2 x Cortex-A710 @ 2.8 GHz 3 x Cortex-A510 @ 2.0 GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 735 Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 FP | Adreno 740 Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 FP |
| GAMING | Snapdragon Elite Gaming Hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing Game Post Processing Accelerators Qualcomm® Adreno™ Frame Motion Engine 2.0 | Snapdragon Elite Gaming Hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing Game Post Processing Accelerators Unreal Engine 5 MetaHumans framework |
| NPU | Hexagon | Hexagon |
| Memory | LPDDR5X 4200 MHz Up to 24GB | LPDDR5X 4200 MHz Up to 24GB |
| Storage | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4.0 |
| Camera | Qualcomm Spectra Triple ISP (18-bit) 200 MP, 108 MP (MFNR, ZSL), 64+36 MP (MFNR, ZSL), 36+36+36 MP (MFNR, ZSL) | Qualcomm Spectra Triple ISP (18-bit) 200 MP, 108 MP (MFNR, ZSL) |
| Video recording | 4K @ 60 FPS 1080p slow-mo @ 240 FPS | 8K @ 30 fps, 4K @ 120 FPS 720p slow-mo @ 960 FPS |
| Display | Max resolution (on-device): QHD+ @ 144 Hz, 4K Ultra HD @ 60 Hz Max resolution (external): 8K @ 30 Hz 10-bit color, HDR10+, HDR10, HDR Vivid | Max resolution (on-device): QHD+ @ 144 Hz, 4K Ultra HD @ 60 Hz Max resolution (external): 4K @ 60 Hz 10-bit color, HDR10+, HDR10, HDR Vivid |
| Charging | Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 | Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 |
| Modem | Snapdragon X70 5G modem Peak download speed: 6.5 Gbps Peak upload speed: 3.5 Gbps | Snapdragon X70 5G modem Peak download speed: 10 Gbps Peak upload speed: 3.5 Gbps |
| Connectivity | 5G / 4G / 3G / 2G Wi-Fi 7 NFC Bluetooth 5.4 NavIC support | 5G / 4G / 3G / 2G Wi-Fi 7 NFC Bluetooth 5.3 NavIC support |
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs 8 Gen 2: Benchmarks
Geekbench 6
| Geekbench v6 | Single Core | Multi Core |
|---|---|---|
| SD 8s Gen 3 | 2013 | 5247 |
| SD 8 Gen 2 | 1984 | 5356 |
AnTuTu 10
| AnTuTu 10 | SD 8s Gen 3 | SD 8 Gen 2 |
| CPU | 363576 | 392389 |
| GPU | 490838 | 603295 |
| Memory | 331461 | 310704 |
| UX | 253767 | 287289 |
| Total Score | 1439642 | 1593677 |
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs 8 Gen 2: CPU
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 features a (1+4+3) core cluster, while the 8 Gen 2 has a (1+2+2+3) core cluster.
There’s one Cortex-X4 prime core in the Snapdragon chip clocked at 3.0 GHz, four Cortex-A720 performance cores running at 2.8 GHz and three Cortex-A520 power-efficient cores at 2.0 GHz.
In the Snapdragon 8s Gen 2 chip, we have one Cortex-X3 prime core running at 3.2 GHz, four performance cores (two Cortex-A715 at 2.8 GHz, two Cortex-A710 cores at 2.8 GHz), and three Cortex-A510 power-efficient cores clocked at 2.0 GHz.
The Cortex-X4 and Cortex-A720 cores in the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 are better in terms of performance and power efficiency compared to the Cortex-X3, Cortex-A715, and Cortex-A710 cores in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. These new cores in the SD 8s Gen 3 chip sustain a high workload on its CPU without sacrificing performance.
Within 15 minutes of a CPU throttling test, the SD 8s Gen 3 throttled to 94% of its maximum performance, whereas the SD 8 Gen 2 throttled to 75%. Please note that CPU throttling also depends on the cooling system implemented on the device.
The bottom line is that the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 has better CPU performance than the SD 8 Gen 2. However, the difference is not too big.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs 8 Gen 2: GPU
The SD 8s Gen 3 is equipped with the Adreno 735 GPU, while the SD 8 Gen 2 has Adreno 740.
Benchmarking phones powered by these two chips on platforms like Wild Life Extreme and Solay Bay Stress Test reveals that the SD 8 Gen 2 has better gaming performance than the SD 8s Gen 3. Also, the average FPS is higher with the SD 8 Gen 2.
Both chips feature Snapdragon Elite Gaming for a better gaming experience. They support hardware-accelerated ray tracing and game post processing accelerators. The chips support Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL ES 3.2, and OpenCL 2.0 FP APIs.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs 8 Gen 2: Memory and Storage
Both chips have the same memory and storage technologies. They support up to 24GB LPDDR5X RAM at 4200 MHz and UFS 4.0 storage. These are fast RAM and storage technologies found in flagship chips.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs 8 Gen 2: Multimedia
Both flagship chipsets feature a Qualcomm Spectra 18-bit Triple ISP with up to 200-megapixel single camera support. They also support a 108MP single camera with Multi-frame Noise Reduction (MFNR) and Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL). The SD 8s Gen 3 also supports 64+36 MP dual cameras (MFNR, ZSL) and 36+36+36 MP triple cameras (MFNR, ZSL).
The SD 8s Gen 3 and SD 8 Gen 2 chips are equipped with camera features like AI-based auto exposure, low light photography, an engine for visual analytics 3.0, AI-based face detection, locally motion compensated temporal filtering (MCTF), and real-time semantic segmentation.
Coming to video, the SD 8s Gen 3 is capable of taking up to 4K videos at 60 FPS, whereas the SD 8 Gen 2 can record 8K videos at 30 FPS or 4K videos at 120 FPS. The SD 8s Gen 3 takes 1080p slow-mo videos at 240 FPS, while the SD 8 Gen 2 takes up to 720p slow-mo videos at 960 FPS.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs 8 Gen 2: Display
Both chips support the same on-device display resolution – QHD+ @ 144 Hz or 4K Ultra HD @ 60 Hz, although they have dissimilar external display resolution support.
The maximum external display resolution for the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is 8K @ 30 Hz, while it is 4K @ 60 Hz for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Both chips support 10-bit colour and multiple HDR formats – HDR10, HDR10+, and HDR Vivid.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs 8 Gen 2: Connectivity
The connectivity features on both chips are largely the same, but several minor tweaks that could make a difference to you.
Both chips have the Snapdragon X70 5G modem, but the peak downloading speed in the SD 8 Gen 2 is 10 Gbps, significantly higher than the 6.5 Gbps peak download speed in the SD 8s Gen 3.
Another difference is the Bluetooth standard. While the SD 8s Gen 3 supports Bluetooth v5.4, the SD 8 Gen 2 uses a slightly older version – Bluetooth v5.3, although the difference is very minimal.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs 8 Gen 2: Which is Better?
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 has CPU advantages over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It reflects on the spec sheet as well as on the benchmarks. However, the 8 Gen 2 gets a slight edge in terms of GPU performance, offering better gaming performance.
The rest of the specifications are pretty much similar.
So, if gaming is my primary concern, I’d go all in with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but for anything else, I prefer the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3.
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