Today at its 5G Summit, Qualcomm announced the new Snapdragon 778G 5G chip to help bolster its portfolio of mobile processors for the second half of 2021.
Labelled by Qualcomm as a new “high-tier” chip, the Snapdragon 778G looks to slot in between Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 888 processor and less expensive Snapdragon chips like the 765G, which was used in phones like the Pixel 5 and others.
Featuring a Kryo 670 CPU and an Adreno 642L GPU, the Snapdragon 778G is being positioned as a well-rounded chip with strong multimedia capabilities, including what Qualcomm claims is 40% better CPU performance and 40% faster graphics rendering compared to the previous generation. And with its debut at Qualcomm’s 5G summit, the Snapdragon 778G naturally includes support both for sub-6Ghz and mmWave 5G thanks to its Snapdragon X53 5G modem.
When it comes to gaming, the 778G also supports Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Elite Gaming suite which includes things like Qualcomm Game Quick Touch that provides increased responsiveness and additional support for displays with up to 144Hz refresh rates.
As for camera support, the 778G’s triple Spectra 570L ISPs allow the chip to record video from up to three different cameras at the same time, or snap up to three 22-MP still photos simultaneously. And thanks to improved support for computational HD video capture, footage recorded on phones powered by the 778G should appear richer and more colourful as well.
Elsewhere, the 778G crams in a bunch of other features to prop up its multimedia capabilities including support for Snapdragon Sound to help deliver high-quality wireless audio, Qualcomm’s sixth-gen AI Engine for improved machine learning and digital assistant performance, and native support for Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, and Wi-Fi 6E.
However, the most encouraging thing about the 778G is that even at launch, a relatively large number of smartphone makers including Motorola, Oppo, Realme, Xiaomi, and more have already committed to using Snapdragon 778G in an upcoming device, with Honour specifically saying that the 778G will power the company’s upcoming Honour 50 series phones.
Right now my one big concern is that Qualcomm is at risk of flooding the market with a number of very similar processors, as the 778G comes less than two months after the announcement of the Snapdragon 780G, which is another chip from Qualcomm that’s trying to bring more flagship features to less expensive devices.
But until the 778G (and the 780G) starting showing up in retail devices, it’s hard to get a real handle on how Qualcomm’s next generation of mobile chips really perform. So stay tuned until the second half of 2021 when Qualcomm says devices featuring the 778G will actually go on sale.