Qualcomm’s chips do a lot more than just powering ourfavorite Android phones. You’ll find Snapdragon-brand SoCs inside some of thebest Android handheld gaming hardwaretoo, and with good reason. The chips are powerful enough for gaming phones. However, Qualcomm has its eyes set on the booming gaming handheld segment comprising the likes of the Valve Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch, respawning an industry that was almost forgotten since the Sony PSP died. To this effect, Qualcomm is announcing three new SoCs purpose-built for handheld gaming devices at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, this week.
Called theSnapdragon G Series, the lineup consists of the G1, G2, and G3x Gen 2 SoCs. The G1 supports lag-free game streaming locally, or from the cloud. The company has designed this chip for long hours of play on Wi-Fi, whichThe Verge reports, should be north of the 10-hour mark. In an interaction with Qualcomm’s gaming director Mithun Chandrasekhar, The Verge learned that devices with the G1 chip should cost less than $200, and that’s without Verizon subsidies.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon G1 Gen 1
Meanwhile, the new G2 chip is for mobile and cloud gaming with the added advantage of 5G and Wi-Fi 6/6E support. The Snapdragon G2 Gen 1 will be the first chip to sport this branding. It will feature a Kryo octa-core CPU and an Adreno A21 GPU optimized for gaming on the go.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon G2 Gen 1
The highlight of Qualcomm’s new chipset lineup is the G3x Gen 2 — a chip that can take the battle to the gaming greats like AMD’s Aerith SoC powering the Steam Deck. With the Gen 2, Qualcomm has upped the Kryo octa-core CPU performance by 30%, while maintaining package power draw in the 15-18W ballpark. Learning from community feedback for theG3x Gen 1-powered Razer Edge, the brand has equipped Gen 2 with an Adreno A32 GPU that’s twice as performant. It enables sustained top-tier performance with features like ray tracing. It’s a complete package for the mobile gamer, packing support for Wi-Fi 7 and PCIe Gen 4 SSDs you would use on a PC.
However, the eagle-eyed may notice these tech specs can’t hold a candle to industry-leading game consoles yet. Chandrasekhar told The Verge they could hypothetically crank the clock speeds on the new SoC to obliterate the competition, but it would tank the console’s battery life. This means console-making brands could show interest in the new G3x Gen 2, although it’s not quite ready to handle PC games just yet.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon G3x Gen 2
This is evident with the reference design console booting Android. Although it has the new powerful chip under the hood and a 6.8-inch 144Hz OLED display, it didn’t wow The Verge with gaming performance. That’s mostly because current-gen Android games are optimized for smartphone SoCs, and not bespoke gaming chips. Moreover, some heavy titles likePUBG: Mobileoutright lack support for external controllers.
That said, Qualcomm is shooting beyond Android and Windows gaming ecosystems. Console makers like AyaNeo, Huaqin, Inventec, and Thundercomm are already queuing up to include the new Qualcomm G3x Gen 2 in their hardware. Chandrasekhar also reiterated that Qualcomm is resting its hopes on these chips to break out of the gaming phone market and appeal to gamers with dedicated, optimized handhelds at various price points.
