Qualcomm announced its latest 7-series processor, the Snapdragon 780G, which features the company’s Snapdragon 888 chipset, while offering manufacturers (and, by extension, consumers) a more affordable phone.
The 780G occupies the new upper slot in the 7 series line, replacing the 765G / 768G (the latter being largely a version with increased frequency from the previous one). Obviously, there is the usual increase in performance: the 780G features Qualcomm’s Kryo 670 CPU, which the company says offers a 40% increase in performance, and a new Adreno 642 GPU for graphics up to 50% faster compared to the model 765.
But the 780G also allows for some new features, like the Spectra 570 triple ISP (image signal processor), which, like the Snapdragon 888, allows phones to capture three simultaneous images or video at the same time.
And like the Snapdragon 888, the Snapdragon 780G features Qualcomm’s sixth generation AI engine running on a new Hexagon 770 processor, which can perform 12 trillion operations per second (TOPS) – double its predecessor, even if it is still small compared to the 26 TOPS that the Snapdragon 888 offers. It also features the second-generation Hub Sensing that Qualcomm debuted in its flagship chipset.
Finally, the 780G has improved connectivity features, with an integrated Snapdragon X53 5G modem that promises speeds of up to 3.3 Gbps on 5G Sub-6 GHz networks. And like its more expensive brother, the 780G adds Wi-Fi support 6E, which means that phones with the new chip will be able to take advantage of the faster Wi-Fi speeds as well as Bluetooth 5.2.
The first phones with the Snapdragon 780G are expected to launch in the second quarter of 2021.