Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is all about gaming for the mid-range

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is an iterative move to bring mid-range devices closer to flagship-level performance with an emphasis on gaming. Whether Qualcomm is able to accomplish that or not, the on-paper power it brings is impressive.

It’s always fun to break down flagship devices that get released and see what makes the internals so good at what they do. But the recent trend of flagships only bringing incremental changes year-over-year has shifted things a little bit, making the mid-range category more exciting.

Qualcomm announced a new version of an existing mid-range SoC, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4. The new generation takes aim at users who are looking to use their devices for gaming, some photography, and, of course, AI. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 uses the existing Kryo CPU found in the 8 Elite, along with the company’s Hexagon NPU for AI processing.

The NPU in the system-on-a-chip is a welcome addition since we know how much OEMs are pushing generative AI along with models that assist in everyday tasks, like real-time translations during phone calls and message threads. The existence of an NPU also means heavy tasks can be handled on-device, which doesn’t require an internet connection, though the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 boasts a 5G modem with Wi-FI 6E capability.

Qualcomm is also emphasizing gaming on this chip. The specs indicate it can handle up to 4K gaming with Snapdragon Game Super Resolution. The SoC also brings Fast Blend, which renders games up to twice as fast. The GPU also brings some frame generation it seems with the Adreno Frame Motion Engine. The company is also tying audio into that with lossless options.

According to proprietary comparisons to the previous generation, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 is 11% better in CPU performance and 29% better in GPU performance, which hammers home the notion that this chip is centered around gaming. Users should also expect a battery performance increase of around 12%, but again, those are early benchmarks that are subject to change in real-world scenarios.

Qualcomm notes that Oppo and Honor, among others, will be releasing devices with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 chipset in the “coming months.” The specific model names were not mentioned, so we’ll have to wait and see which phones come with the new SoC.

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