Today Qualcomm is announcing the successor to last year’s successful Snapdragon 765 line, a “premium” level that the company debuted, featuring the same cutting-edge features as the Snapdragon 800 series, albeit underperforming.
The new Snapdragon 780G follows its predecessor with some major upgrades in terms of performance and multimedia features, doubling the number of large cores – increasing GPU performance in significant quantities and introducing the new, more performing, fused AI engine with the new Hexagon 770 DSP. In addition, the camera’s capture skills have also seen major improvements with the new Spectra 570 Triple-ISP.
| Qualcomm Snapdragon Premium SoCs | ||||
| SoC | Snapdragon 765 Snapdragon 765G |
Snapdragon 768G |
Snapdragon 780G |
|
| CPU | 1x Cortex-A76 @ 2.3 GHz (non-G) @ 2.4 GHz (765 G) 1x Cortex-A76 6x Cortex-A55 |
1x Cortex-A76 @ 2.8 GHz 1x Cortex-A76 6x Cortex-A55 |
1x Cortex-A78
@ 2.4 GHz 3x Cortex-A78 @ 2.2GHz 4x Cortex-A55 |
|
| GPU | Adreno 620 | Adreno 620
+ 15% perf over 765G |
Adreno 642
+ 50% perf over 768G |
|
| DSP / NPU | Hexagon 696 HVX + Tensioner 5.4 AI TOPS |
Hexagon 770
Scalar + Tensor + Vector 12 AI TOPs |
||
| Memory Controller |
2x 16-bit CH
@ 2133 MHz LPDDR4X / 17.0 GB / s |
|||
| ISP / Camera | Spectra 355 dual 14-bit ISP
1x 192MP |
Triple 14-bit Spectra 570 ISP
1x 192MP |
||
| Code/ Decode |
2160p30, 1080p120 H.264 and H.265 10-bit HDR pipelines |
|||
| Integrated Modem | Snapdragon X52 Integrated (LTE Category 24/22) (5G NR Sub-6 4×4 100 MHz |
Integrated Snapdragon X53
(LTE Category 24/22) (5G NR Sub-6 4×4 100 MHz) |
||
| Mfc. Process | Samsung 7nm (7LPP) |
Samsung 5nm (5LPE) |
||
Basically, the new Snapdragon 780G is a SoC very different from its predecessor, as it changes the configuration of the CPU substantially. We are moving from a 1 + 1 + 6 configuration to a more recent 1 + 3 + 4 configuration, including a main Cortex-A78 core at 2.4 GHz, three Cortex-A78 cores at 2.2 GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores at 1.9 GHz. Qualcomm promises CPU increases of up to 40% – the duplication of the large cores, as well as the new microarchitecture employed, should really give a good boost to the user experience on a daily basis.
On the GPU side, we are seeing the use of a new Adreno 642. As usual, Qualcomm does not disclose many details about the design here, but reveals an increase in generation performance of up to + 50% over the Snapdragon 768G, the which means about the 765G which is expected to grow to + 72%. Based on our previous benchmarks, this should end up with a performance similar to the Snapdragon 855’s Adreno 640 flagship from a few years ago – meaning that the GPU is apparently appropriately named in terms of its performance.
Qualcomm is employing its newest scalar DSP + tensioner + cast vector and AI engine in the new Snapdragon 780G, which means that it should be the same in terms of architectural design as the new unit in the Snapdragon 888, albeit at lower performance levels. Qualcomm announces 12TO of AI performance across all SoC IP blocks, which is more than 2x the predecessor.
In terms of DRAM, SoC remains an LPDDR4X-2133 2x16b design, which appears to be crucial for cost reduction in this market segment.
A major upgrade in capabilities is found by the ISPs of the cameras. Again, like the DSP, the new design follows the new IP architecture similar to that employed in the Snapdragon 888, employing a new triple Spectra 570 block that is capable of operating three RGB camera sensors simultaneously. 192MP captures are possible for single modules (with shutter delay), or in terms of zero shutter delay operation, we can see 1x 84MP, 64 + 20MP or 3x 25MP sensor configurations. In terms of video encoding, we see no mention of many changes compared to the predecessor, so we assume that the video capture skills remain the same.
What is very interesting about the new design and probably revealing of the broader market in general, is the fact that the new part no longer announces the mmWave capability on the part of your modem. The new X53 modem apparently cut that feature off its spec sheet. Generally, mmWave remains an extremely specific feature, which is currently widely implemented in only a few US cities around the world. Given that SoCs target lower priced devices, and we saw some extremely cheap Snapdragon 765 phones last year, mmWave’s capabilities were probably at odds with the market segment that these phones were aiming for – vendors always have the possibility to use more solutions endpoints, like the Snapdragon 870, if you want to include mmWave connectivity.
Finally, the new SoC is manufactured on Samsung’s 5LPE process node, which is an update on last year’s Snapdragon 765 7LPP node. Although the node does not look as promising when compared to TSMC’s 5 nm node, it is being used in an O SoC in this price category is definitely positive and should show notable gains over its predecessor.
Qualcomm plans to bundle the Snapdragon 780G SoC with FastConnect 6900 Wi-Fi chips that feature Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, hopefully signaling a widespread adoption of the new 6GHz spectrum technology.
The Snapdragon 780G is expected to be deployed on commercial devices in the second quarter of 2021.