Qualcomm is adding a new entry-level smartphone chip to its range, which is expected to appear in smartphones at the end of 2024. The silicon in question is the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2, a slightly downgraded version of the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 processor.
The two most promising things are faster connectivity and better cameras for budget Android smartphones. Firstly, the 5G-enabled chips promise downlink speeds of up to 1Gbps, which is much faster than the 4G-only silicon available at a similar price point.
Secondly, it features video stabilization and multi-frame noise reduction for clearer media capture.Based on the 4nm manufacturing process, the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 is an octa-core chip with two performance cores running at a peak frequency of 2GHz.
Compared to the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2, the new ‘S’ variant can drive screens at refresh rates up to 90Hz (versus 120Hz), only supports LPDDR4X RAM modules (around 30% slower than LPDDR5), and does not support global 5G multi-SIM functionality.
Image capture capabilities are limited, and the performance and efficiency cores are slower than the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2. However, the rest of the package looks to be a significant upgrade over the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1.
Qualcomm’s new mobile processor supports single-camera image capture of up to 84 megapixels, capable of capturing FHD video at up to 60 frames per second, and also supports Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive audio and Aqstic audio codecs, enabling high-definition music streaming at up to 96kHz.
Wireless connectivity is handled by Sub-6GHz 5G, Wi-Fi 5, and Bluetooth v5.1 standards, while the rest of the feature set is complemented by Qualcomm QuickCharge 4+ technology and dual-frequency GPS.
Qualcomm has said that Xiaomi will be one of the first to adopt the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2. The chipmaker says that its latest offering will “make 5G accessible to 2.8 billion smartphone users.” It will be interesting to see if TCL, Motorola, and others adopt it in the North American market.
On the competitive front, MediaTek is slowly taking market share from Qualcomm with its Dimensity 6000 series 5G processors, which have been adopted by Chinese smartphone makers in key markets such as Asia.
