Qualcomm has already developed a better version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. However, it is exclusively available on Samsung Galaxy devices. And considering the fact that there are already two different versions of the chipset, no one expected Qualcomm to release the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2.
You may already know that Qualcomm has officially confirmed the date of the Snapdragon Summit planned for this year. Similar to last year, this event will showcase a brand-new chipset. As far as the official announcement suggested, it will be Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, not the 8+ Gen 2.
However, the Antutu benchmark score for the Red Magic 8S Pro has taken us by surprise. It shows that the device is running on Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 or 8 Plus Gen 2. Considering the fact that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is just five months away, the timing for this release is very odd.
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 Vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy
As mentioned earlier, there are two different variants of the 8 Gen 2 chipset available. The highly-specced one goes by ‘Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy’, and it is only available for Samsung’s flagships of this year. And if you are not caught up, the Samsung Galaxy S23 with the high-end 8 Gen 2 chipset gets 1226959 in Antutu.
The recently revealed Antutu score for Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 is 1704113. That’s around a 38.88 percent performance increase. And if you were to talk about specs, the new chipset has a higher frequency than the base 8 Gen 2. On the Cortex X3, the clock speed is 3.36 GHz instead of 3.20 GHz.
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Moreover, the GPU frequency is at 719 MHz, while the 8 Gen 2 had 680 MHz. Other than that, there are no notable changes in the 8+ Gen 2. Qualcomm has likely utilized the same TSMC 4nm process to manufacture the new chipset. And we think that Qualcomm will produce it in small batches as it is currently focusing on the release of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
Other than that, there’s no clear information available on when the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 3 might launch. But considering the fact that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is just 5 months away, don’t be surprised if you see the Red Magic 8S Pro launch in the coming weeks.
More Details About Red Magic 8S Pro
So, Red Magic 8 Pro was the first device to bring the 8 Gen 2 to the commercial market. And Red Magic appears to be the first in terms of Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 too. Like last time, it’s going for the leaderboards of Antutu. If you take a closer look at the Antutu ranking, Red Magic 8 Pro+ has the number 1 spot.
That device scores 1.3 million in Antutu benchmarking tool. On the other hand, the Red Magic 8S Pro, which Antutu has not listed in the rankings yet, gets 1.7 million. As Red Magic already made a lot of tuning on 8 Gen 2 to get the leaderboards, we believe the case will be the same for the 8+ Gen 2.
Additionally, a credible source, Digital Chatter, mentioned that the Red Magic 8S Pro is equipped with an active cooling fan. That is probably giving the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 in the device more room to perform better.
Although, Digital Chatter did not clearly state whether the active cooling fan is built into the smartphone or if it is a separate accessory. However, as the device is likely just weeks away, we will soon be able to know all there’s to it.
