Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 With Support for 2.5Gbps 5G Speeds

Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 was announced by the chipmaker on Monday as the company’s latest chipset for entry-level 5G smartphones. The new chip is the latest addition to the company’s Snapdragon 4-series and is the successor to the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC that was launched in 2022. It is also the first chip in the series to be built on a 4nm process node and offers 10 percent performance better performance than its predecessor. The new Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 SoC is equipped with a Qualcomm X61 5G modem that is capable of download speeds of up to 2.5Gbps. It also offers NavIC and dual frequency GNSS support for navigation.

Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 availability timeline

According to details shared by Qualcomm, the newly announced Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 will be used in upcoming smartphone models from manufacturers like Redmi and Vivo, while smartphones equipped with the chipset are expected to be available for purchase in the second half of 2023.

Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 specifications

The new Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 SoC comprises two performance cores clocked at 2.2GHz and six efficiency cores clocked at 2GHz. It is said to offer a 10 percent jump in performance over the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1, along with support for UFS 3.1 storage and up to LPDDR5x RAM at 3200MHz. The chip also comes with support for up to full-HD+ displays with 120Hz refresh rate.

The company has also touted its on-device AI technology that offers features like background noise reduction during voice and video calls. The chipset supports USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C connectivity along with support for Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 4+ technology which is based on the USB-PD (Power Delivery) standard.

Equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X61 5G modem, the new chip is the first in the Snapdragon 4-series to support the 3GPP Release 16 5G standard. The company says that the modem is capable of download speeds of up to 2.5Gbps. It also offers support for Bluetooth 5.1 dual-band Wi-Fi 5 connectivity. It also supports GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, NavIC, and QZSS location services with dual-frequency GNSS (L1 + L5) support. 

For photos and videos, the new Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 SoC supports a dual camera setup with two 16-megapixel cameras or a single 32-megapixel camera. Both setups offer 30fps zero shutter lag support, according to the company. Video capturing is supported at 1080p resolution at 60fps (single camera) and 30fps (dual camera) and at 720p resolution at 120fps (slow-motion). Qualcomm says it has introduced AI features for improved low-light photo and video capturing with noise reduction using Multi Camera Temporal Filtering (MCTF).