Samsung Galaxy S23 Series: A Breakdown of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

The Samsung Galaxy S23 series is finally here, and one of the most exciting aspects of the series is that it will pack Qualcomm chipsets in all versions of the phone across the world. However, there’s a twist; it’s not just a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, it’s a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. The specs shared by Samsung give us a good idea of what to expect.

Increased Clock Speeds

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy has an increased primary clock speed from 3.2GHz to 3.36GHz and an increased GPU clock speed from 680MHz to 719MHz. This is what a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 would have looked like. The difference between the Snapdragon 888 and the Snapdragon 888+ was a 155MHz higher clock speed in the Plus variant, with a few small improvements. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is a small step-up from the Snapdragon 888, with just a small increase in peak performance.

Will It Be Noticeably Faster?

Realistically, no. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy shouldn’t be noticeably faster, though it may score slightly higher in benchmarks. When it comes to apps that switch messages, it should run seamlessly but expect no improvements. With such a small increase in performance, Samsung is likely to limit the chipset’s performance to balance performance and battery life. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is likely the highest-performing Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset with a higher clock speed, but it’s still just a rebranded version.

Semantic Segmentation & DSP Improvements

According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy also has a couple of other changes, including the world’s first use of Snapdragon’s Cognitive ISP for real-time Semantic Segmentation, which enhances images. The chipset also has an upgraded Snapdragon Hexagon processor for better AI performance.

The Future of Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2

The release of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy means that it’s in a weird spot with a mid-cycle refresh that usually comes out in the middle of the year. There are three possible scenarios for the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2: it could be skipped entirely, released and be similar to the 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, or even better than the 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy. It remains to be seen what Qualcomm will do.

Summing Up

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is a small step-up from the Snapdragon 888 with an increased clock speed, better image enhancement and AI performance. The future of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 2 remains to be seen, but we will have to wait and see what Qualcomm decides to do.