Qualcomm goes all in on AI with the launch of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

Qualcomm has revealed its latest mobile technology, detailing the much-anticipated Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset during the Snapdragon Summit event live from Maui. With this chipset expected to power the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S24, there’s sure to be a lot of attention on just what it’s capable of compared to the already impressive 8 Gen 2 technology.

While we thought mobile gaming couldn’t get much better than what the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 already offers in some of the best Samsung phones and beyond, the next generation brings even more to the table. The numbers tell the story better than I can, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 boasting 240fps gaming capabilities, which is staggering in itself, married with a 25% faster GPU, 30% faster CPU, and 40% faster ray tracing. Put simply, Honkai Star Rail is going to look incredible on anything using this upcoming technology.

Still, the big news for general smartphone use is Qualcomm’s integration of generative AI in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The most impactful AI integration for most phone users is in the camera department, with Qualcomm introducing some exciting capabilities, including removing objects from videos, creative background generation, and the ability to expand images. If you think this sounds a lot like what Google is offering with the latest Tensor G3 chipset, you’re not wrong. With that in mind, it’ll be interesting to see what camera features the first phone to utilize the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 offers and how it compares to the new Google Pixel 8 series.

The new chipset is also capable of sub-one-second stable diffusion, creating detailed and intricate images faster than anything we’ve ever seen on a smartphone before. For those who don’t know what stable diffusion is, it’s essentially a software feature that creates brand-new images from a text prompt. While this technology is quite divisive in some circles, you can’t say that this leap forward isn’t impressive, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon seemed particularly proud of this element of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s generative AI capabilities.

The most surprising part of the reveal wasn’t the emphasis on AI, though. During the big reveal, Xiaomi president William Lu took to the stage to reveal that the Xiaomi 14 Series is releasing in China on October 26 as the first smartphone to utilize the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset. So, we’re going to see how the new chipset works on a device much sooner than we anticipated, with many assuming before the reveal that the Samsung Galaxy S24 might be the first to implement the technology.

If you want to watch the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 reveal yourself, check out the Snapdragon Summit stream in the YouTube link below. The mobile chipset reveal comes just over an hour into the stream. Still, it’s worth watching the entire presentation from Amon and others to see what Qualcomm is aiming for with its wider commitment to generative AI technology.

With that, you’re up to date on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 reveal, with Qualcomm showing off the next-generation chipset during this year’s Snapdragon Summit. To check out some devices utilizing the last generation of Snapdragon technology, see our guides to the best Xiaomi phones and the best OnePlus phones.