Qualcomm quietly unveils the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chipset

Qualcomm’s current naming scheme can sometimes be confusing, but the “s” generally denotes a “step-down” model in the lineup, and that’s exactly what the new Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 is. Qualcomm quietly put up information about the new mobile platform on its site without much fanfare. We kind of understand why since the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 isn’t a particularly intriguing chip.

It is available in a 4G (SM-6370) and a 5G (SM6375-AC) variant, and that model number offers a big hint about the chipset’s origins. The SM6375 is the Snapdragon 695 – a chip from 2021 that was later rehashed in 2021 as the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 (SM4375). Just like those two chips, the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 is based on a 6nm TSMC node. It has two CPU clusters: one with two Cortex A78 cores, clocked at up to 2.3 GHz and another one with six Cortex-A55 ones, working at up to 2.0 GHz. So, Qualcomm has overclocked the CPU cores a bit compared to the older chips we mentioned.

The Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 gets an Adreno 619 GPU and a FastConnect 6200 modem. It supports LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage. Perhaps one of the biggest letdowns, however, is that the camera ISP inside the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 only supports up to 1080p@60fps video capture, which seems ridiculous in 2024. But we digress.

In contrast, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset from 2022 is a 4nm chip with two more big Cortex-A78 CPU cores, a more powerful Adreno 710 GPU, LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1 storage, a FastConnect 6700 modem and 4K@30fps video capture support. All of these technical features make it better than the new Snapdragon 6s Gen 3.

Actual devices with the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 appear to be right around the corner, namely the Motorola G85, if we look at recent benchmark leaks.

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