The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Performance Preview: Sizing Up Cortex-X2
by Dr. Ian Cutress on December 14, 2021 8:00 AM ESTConclusionary Remarks: Arm v9 for Android
When we move through significant revisions of Arm’s architecture, up to v8 and now v9, it’s important to note that the new features defined in the ISA do not always fundamentally improve performance – it’s up to the microarchitecture teams to build the cores to the ISA specifications, and the implementation teams to enable the core in silicon with frequency and power efficiency. Accomplishing that requires a good process node, design technology co-optimization, and then partners that can execute by building the best devices for that processor.
Qualcomm’s target with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is very clearly the 2022 Android Flagship smartphones. New cores, new graphics, enhanced machine learning capabilities, a step function in camera processing power, an integrated X65 modem, all built on Samsung’s 4nm process node technology. The flagship Android space is an area in which Qualcomm has been comfortable for a number of years, however the increased thermals of last generation’s Snapdragon S888 gave a number of analysts in the space a bit of a squeaky bum moment.
It’s hard to tell immediately in our small test if that still remains the case. Samsung’s 4nm node has improvements beyond the previous generation 5nm design, however Qualcomm’s presentational numbers were above and beyond those that Samsung provided, perhaps indicating that additional improvements both in architecture and implementation have led to those performance numbers.
Our testing shows +19% floating point performance on the X2 core, which is almost the +20% that Qualcomm quotes, but only +8% in integer, which is often the most quoted. We’re seeing power efficiency improvements for sure on the X2 core, with an overall efficiency improvement of 17%, but peak power has also increased, in part because some of our tests make use of the additional cache in the system. Our machine learning tests are +75% over the previous generation, although not the 4x numbers that Qualcomm states – we need to do more work here on power efficiency testing however. On the gaming side, our 'first run' numbers showcase some explosive gains in GPU throughput.
Although we’ve only done a few tests here, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the elephant in the room: MediaTek. In the last month MediaTek announced a return to the high-end with a flagship processor of its own, using the same 1+3+4 configuration with slightly higher frequencies, more cache, and built on TSMC’s N4 process. Implementation here will be the key metric I feel, so how MediaTek has been able to optimize for TSMC N4 vs Qualcomm on Samsung 4nm is going to be analyzed. I should point out here that a processor is more than just the CPU cores, as we’ll see Adreno vs Mali on graphics, the different machine learning approaches, but also how the two companies approach 5G and connectivity, which has been one of Qualcomm’s most prominent strengths to date.
We look forward to testing the Qualcomm S8g1 in more detail in the New Year, as well as how many of the main smartphone OEMs choose Qualcomm for their flagship devices.
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TheinsanegamerN - Friday, December 17, 2021 - link
The android world doesnt need 6-10 years of support to still download and play the latest games, unlike iphones. Android 6 can play anything android 12 can.Now try that with iOS 9.
Sergio Luiz - Saturday, June 25, 2022 - link
The problem here is that the IPhone 6s not only has the latest version of ios but all the compilers updated to run current games, see that the A9 runs the immortal Diablo in its Medias settings at 30fps, the updates survive longer for the devices, already that in each version of Apple makes improvements in the APIs of the devices, 6s will only not be compatible with ios 16 because of Metal 3 that will only be available on the A11 Bionic, but see that the 6s has not died yet because most Apps need ios 11 to run.Nicon0s - Saturday, December 18, 2021 - link
"The 6-10 years of support for iPhones more than mitigates what is at this point a very minor price difference outside of the very low end."LoL, 10 years of support? These same excuses are really funny.
Phones hardly even last for 10 years, in general and after 2 years you need to change the battery especially with iphones so 5 years is the longest people keep their phones in general. And these are generally people that don't care about software updates, they don't even know what software version their phones has, they don't care what hardware their phones has and so on. The idea is that Android phones can be used for 5 years or more no problem. My A52s will get 4 years of updates but project Mainline will make it so the phone will continue to get updates well past that threshold, so I could probably keep it for as long it would last hardware wise.
"iPhone SE is only $400 after all."
The SE is a terrible phone in 2 very important areas: BATTERY and SCREEN.
It's OK for phone calls and basic stuff that doesn't stress the batter but in such cases even a low end Android phone is just as good.
"Android phones in that price range are not great performers and have at best 2 years of support typically."
Well I payed 350 Euros, VAT included for my A52s 5G also with a free pair of Galaxy Buds2. An SE would cost me 500 Euros with VAT and I struggle to think about anything that would make it better as a phone. Other that a nicer built quality(which is irrelevant as I always uses cases with my phones) there isn't really anything relevant. Oh and the A52s has official software support for 4 years.
"Even a used iPhone will typically have years more support than a comparably cheap new Android device, and for a non-power user that's great."
For a non-power user that's actually irrelevant.
Reflex - Monday, December 20, 2021 - link
This is silly, I mean, iPhone batteries are as good or better than their Android counterpoints in similar price ranges. And no, the SE is not a terrible phone, it's just not a power users' phone. Nothing wrong with mid-range products, and they exist in the Android ecosystem as well.The issue with using Android past it's support lifecycle is that it is easily compromised, I've delt with dozens of people, most often seniors, with tons of spyware on their phones due to one click sms malware or following the wrong email link. It's important to have ongoing security updates to any computing device in active use as users simplly are not a reliable source of security.
Nicon0s - Saturday, December 25, 2021 - link
"This is silly, I mean, iPhone batteries are as good or better than their Android counterpoints in similar price ranges."SE's battery is way worse in comparison to any Android phone in it's price range. So your claim is the silly one sir.
"And no, the SE is not a terrible phone, it's just not a power users' phone."
I guess if you expect to be able to use your phone throughout the entire day you are a "power user".
"Nothing wrong with mid-range products, and they exist in the Android ecosystem as well."
It's funny how you try to defend it. I didn't say there's any problem with mid-range phones, I only said the SE is bad in 2 very important areas, which obviously you can't deny.
"The issue with using Android past it's support lifecycle is that it is easily compromised"
No it's not.
"I've delt with dozens of people, most often seniors, with tons of spyware on their phones due to one click sms malware or following the wrong email link."
Yeah, I'm sure you didn't. Realistically if you click or tap on anything every time, you can get compromised on any phone no matter the OS version. iOS for example is full of 0 day vulnerabilities, way more than Android.
"It's important to have ongoing security updates to any computing device in active use as users simplly are not a reliable source of security"
It is important but not life dependent, or better it doesn't make a phone unusable, useless device that will surely be compromised. I have lots of phones, some of them on older Android versions and I've never encountered a "malware" in the last 10 years. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, I should start tapping of suspicious links from unknown senders.
lemurbutton - Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - link
Android phones will never have better value than iPhones unless you go into the sub $200 range. iPhones have much higher resale value. Android phone values tank fast.TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - link
Android users dont have to have the new shiney every year, unlike iphone users, so who cares?Wrs - Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - link
For there to be a resale value there must be demand for the secondhand device or its parts. Clearly there’s huge relative demand for secondhand iPhones as compared to most Androids. Why?michael2k - Tuesday, December 14, 2021 - link
Because Apple provides updates for 6 years. Meaning a 3 year old iPhone will receive as many OS updates as a brand new 2021 Android phone.And from the charts, a 3 year old iPhone will perform as well as a brand new 2021 Android phone.
Reflex - Wednesday, December 15, 2021 - link
It's actually closer to ten years. Apple provides six years of major OS updates, however each major OS version gets four years of security updates which is why the iPhone 6S, which is six years old but just got iOS 15, still has four more years of support left.Huge selling point for the people I support given their lack of interest in the latest and greatest.