Qualcomm has refreshed its 700 series SoC offering with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1. It’s the successor of the Snapdragon 778 SoC from last year and promises improved performance and power efficiency.
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 octa-core processor is built on Samsung’s 4nm process. That makes it a more efficient processor compared to its predecessor. Of course, it will target the mid-range 5G smartphone market, and it will offer decent performance at an affordable price.
We expect Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Phones to debut in Q2 2022, with OEMs like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Honor to lead the charge. Given the features, we anticipate a powerful device at a decent price from these companies.
Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Octa-core processor features a single Prime core (Cortex-A710) clocked at 2.4GHz, three Performance cores (Cortex-A710) at 2.36GHz, and four Efficiency cores (Cortex-A510) clocked at 1.8GHz. It’s paired with Adreno GPU, and according to Qualcomm, there’s over 20% percent faster graphics rendering than the predecessor
There’s support for Spectra Triple 14-bit image signal, meaning Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 phones will support up to a 200MP camera sensor. The SoC uses the X62 5G modem with a downlink speed of up to 4.4Gbps. Qualcomm’s 7th generation AI engine, which offers a 30% improvement over the predecessor, is also on board.
Other features include Trust Management Engine, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 support, and Android Ready SE for digital car keys and IDs.
List of Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 phones
Oppo Reno 8 Pro
The first Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 phone, Oppo Reno 8 Pro, is here. It becomes the first device to run the newly launched chipset.
Oppo Reno 8 Pro has a 6.62-inch AMOLED panel that supports 120Hz. There’s a 32MP selfie camera, while the fingerprint unlock is under the display.
The rear camera gets a 50MP Sony IMX776 sensor, coupled with an 8MP Ultra-wide lens and a 2MP macro shooter. Powering the device is a 4500mAh battery with support for 60W SuperVOOC charging, and outside of the box, you get ColorOS 12.1 on top of Android 12.
For pricing, the base version of 8/128GB starts at $440, while the variants with 256GB storage sell for $470. There’s a premium 12/256 storage option, but that’ll cost you $515. The device is available in Blue, Black, and Gradient Colors.
Xiaomi 13 Lite
The Xiaomi 13 Lite is the latest addition to our list of Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 phones. It debuted a couple of weeks ago as a more affordable option to the Xiaomi 13 and Xiaomi 13 Pro. With a starting price of under $300, the Xiaomi 13 Lite is an option for a budget device in 2023.
The device has a 6.55-inches AMOLED display, protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 5. It runs Android 12 on top MIUI 14 outside-of-thr box with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Of course, the device will receive Android 13, hopefully in the coming weeks.
For optics, Xiaomi 13 Lite uses a primary 50MP shooter that’s accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide lens and 2MP macro sensor, while the front camera houses a 32MP lens. It’s powered by a 4500mAh battery that supports 67W fast charging. Check out the complete features here.
