Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC launched to power premium mid-range smartphones

Qualcomm in its annual 5G summit on Wednesday launched the new Snapdragon 7-series 5G Mobile Platform, Snapdragon 778G. This chip compared to its predecessor Snapdragon 768G that was launched last year in May will offer 40 per cent higher CPU performance and up to 40 per cent faster graphics rendering. 

The Snapdragon 778G has Kryo 670 CPU with up to 2.4 GHz clock speed and Adreno 642L GPU. It is using 6nm fabrication process technology and said to provide two times better artificial intelligence (AI) performance. Smartphones running on this processor will be available from the second quarter of 2021 and the list of confirmed OEMs include Honor, iQoo, Motorola, Oppo, Realme, and Xiaomi.

This chipset can support up to Full HD+ resolution display with 144Hz refresh rate, up to 10-bit colour depth and Rec2020 colour gamut. Vendors can also provide a 4K display but at a 60Hz refresh rate. For AI, it features the 6th generation Qualcomm AI Engine with Hexagon 770 processor. It supports LPDDR5 RAM up to 3200MHz frequency and up to 16GB capacity. 

For a better gaming experience, Snapdragon 778G has Snapdragon Elite Gaming features including Variable Rate Shading (VRS) to reduce GPU workload offering better power efficiency and Qualcomm Game Quick Touch that provides a 20 per cent faster input response for touch latency.

In terms of camera, it has the 14-bit Qualcomm Spectra 570L triple image signal processor (ISP) that can concurrently capture triple images of up to 22-megapixel resolution. This chip also supports wide, ultra-wide, and zoom cameras as well as offers 4K HDR10+ video recording, AI-based autofocus, multi-frame noise reduction and 720p/240fps slow-motion video shooting. It can have up to 192-megapixel single camera, up to 36-megapixel + 22-megapixel dual-camera setup, and up to 22-megapixel triple camera setup. 

In terms of connectivity, this chip is integrated with the Snapdragon X53 5G modem that enables mmWave, sub-6 5G support having a peak download speed of 3.7Gbps and supports global 5G multi-sim. There is also the Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 to support multi-gigabit class Wi-Fi 6, while other connectivity options include Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, dual-frequency GPS, USB 3.1, and USB-C. For rapid charging, it has Quick Charge 4+ technology and apart from Qualcomm 3D Sonic and 3D Sonic Max fingerprint sensors, also supports other biometric authentications such as face, iris and voice.