- Qualcomm has acknowledged that their latest Snapdragon 8 Elite processors supports up to 8 years of Android updates.
- The decision is the result of a collaboration between Qualcomm and Google to extend software support.
- Devices launching with flagship chips and Android 15 in 2025 will be eligible for this 8-year update policy.
Since 2023, Google and Samsung have been chaperoning seven years of Android updates for their flagship and even some midrange devices. This is something other phone makers have a hard time replicating as Qualcomm, the chipmaker for most Android devices, limits a certain number of updates. Well, that limit is now extending as Qualcomm will now allow up to 8 years of Android updates on their flagship processors.
Qualcomm has just announced that it’s extending support for Android updates on their latest Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. This means, devices shipping with this SOC will be eligible to receive 8 years of Android updates and security patches. The decision to offer this long of support is a result of the collaboration between Qualcomm and Google.
Image Credit: Beebom
Qualcomm will also offer “two upgrades to the mobile platform’s Android Common Kernel (ACK) to support the eight-year window”. This won’t require any effort from the smartphone makers, thus allowing upgrades to be installed on devices without much friction. The company is promising 5 generations of Snapdragon CPUs to support this program.
Other Snapdragon 8 and 7 series processors could also receive the same treatment. Devices launching later this year and coming with Android 15 out-of-the-box will be eligible for 8 years of support. So don’t get your hopes too high if you just got yourself a new OnePlus 13 , IQOO 13 or Samsung Galaxy S25.
With over 4 year of experience under the belt, I cover all facets of consumer tech, from smartphones to other consumer electronics, our favorite social media apps, as well as the growing realm of AI and LLMs. As an Apps and AI writer app Beebom, I provide my expertise in all these areas, weaving stories that help you get familiar with the tech around you. But you will find me playing NYT daily puzzles in my free time.
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- The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 processor is fabricated on TSMC’s 4nm process, providing improved performance and efficiency.
- It features a 29% better GPU, and upscaling 1080p games to 4K.
- The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 includes new INT4 support to run optimized LLM models in limited RAM.
Apart from a few rumors here and there, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 showed up like a surprise today. Qualcomm has been focusing a lot more on their 7 and 8 series CPUs which is why the 6 Gen has felt a bit of a letdown in the past few generations. But this time, Qualcomm gave some much-needed improvements to the new Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 promising a better smartphone experience overall.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4: Specifications
The biggest upgrade in my opinion is the fact that the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is the first one in the series fabricated on TSMC’s 4nm process and uses the new ARMv9 cores. As per its product brief , the core cluster includes a prime core clocked at 2.3GHz. Followed by three other Cortex A720s clocked at 2.2GHz. As for efficiency cores, there’s a cluster of four Cortex A520 cores clocked at 1.8GHz.
Image Credit: Qualcomm
Qualcomm hasn’t offered much detail on the GPU front, but we know it is 29% better GPU than the one used in the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3. It also features Snapdragon Game Super Resolution which upscales 1080p games to 4k. This marks another first for a 6-series processor. Plus, Adreno frame motion generation should further improve the overall gaming experience with this CPU.
It has on-device AI, and INT4 support. So, this means, it can fit more optimized LLM models in the limited RAM configuration. Talking about memory, it supports 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM at 3200MHz, and UFS 3.1 for storage. The display resolution extends to 1080p+ at 144Hz refresh rate, 10-bit colors, HDR 10+, and 4K 60FPS playback.
Moreover, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 has triple 12-bit ISPs which support up to 200MP sensors. This is similar to what we saw on the last gen, but the single camera support is bumped to 64MP. It offers 4K video recording capped at 30FPS. There is hardware acceleration for H.265 and VP9 playback, but AV1 is missing.
Connectivity is mostly identical to the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3. There’s a 5G modem with mmWave and sub-6GHz support offering a download speed of 2.9Gbps . It offers Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5.4 LE support. The latter is an upgrade from the previous iteration. Here’s a quick breakdown of all the highlights of Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 compared to the 6 Gen 3.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4: Availability and Pricing
Image Credit: Qualcomm
As the name implies, this processor is going to be featured in budget to midrange devices, with brands like Oppo, Realme and Honor being the first one to use the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4. We don’t have a word on when the devices with this CPU will come out, but we should be hearing some details in the coming months.
India could be the first region to receive phones powered by the 6 Gen 4, and given it is such a price sensitive market, phone makers are likely to target a $100 to $150 price range.
With over 4 year of experience under the belt, I cover all facets of consumer tech, from smartphones to other consumer electronics, our favorite social media apps, as well as the growing realm of AI and LLMs. As an Apps and AI writer app Beebom, I provide my expertise in all these areas, weaving stories that help you get familiar with the tech around you. But you will find me playing NYT daily puzzles in my free time.
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