Qualcomm Reveals Most Powerful 7-Series Snapdragon Yet

Qualcomm's just-announced Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset will power a new wave of high-tier (or "affordable flagship") phones that will launch starting this month. The chip is dramatically more powerful compared to last year's Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 that it replaces. Both GPU (graphics) and AI performance has been boosted up to 2x compared to the Gen 1, while the CPU is 50% faster. All while delivering 13% better power efficiency. The chip boasts several features that were previously exclusive to the 8 series, including Auto Variable Rate Shading graphics and aptX Lossless sound. For photography, it's the first 7-series with an 18-bit triple ISP and a Mega Low Light camera feature that combines 30 frames into one for high sensitivity and low noise. The triple ISP can process 3 gigapixels per second and supports HDR video capture at 4K resolution using staggered HDR. The X62 5G modem component supports carrier aggregation between mmWave and sub-6-GHz frequencies, and peak data rates of up to 4.4 Gbps. The FastConnect 6900 component supports Wi-Fi 6E and up to four simultaneous streams with low latency for "VR-class" experiences over Wi-Fi. Qualcomm has tweaked what the "+" means in its new naming scheme; the plus now indicates that this chip is the most powerful in this series for this generation.