Another year, another Qualcomm flagship chip is sure to power most Android phones in the coming year. However, this time, the company decided to do something different, renaming its flagship processor with the seemingly simpler Snapdragon 8 (Gen 1) nickname and discussing the improvement in processor performance. At least from some early benchmark tests, it seems that Qualcomm still lags far behind Apple in terms of raw CPU performance. Nevertheless, the results of GPU are still encouraging, which is a reason for optimism about the future. PCMag's benchmark tests, including Geekbench 5, PCMark Work 3.0, GFXBench 5, and Baseline Web, seem to have improved the CPU department by approximately 15% overall compared to Snapdragon 888, slightly lower than Qualcomm's claimed 20%. The benchmark test of Notebookcheck shows even smaller returns, an increase of 6-11% compared to its predecessor. But there is good news in terms of GPU, especially for applications that use the Vulkan API. The results of PCMag showed that Qualcomm's new Adreno 730 GPU easily outperformed the iPhone 13 Pro Max in GFXBench 5, scoring approximately 28% higher in off screen benchmark tests. This does not fully represent the ideal performance of the iPhone, as the iPhone 13 performed better in benchmark tests using Apple's own Metal API (about 10% faster than Snapdragon 8 Gen 1), but it is a more encouraging display. Perhaps more importantly, Qualcomm has nearly doubled the GPU performance of Snapdragon 888, which will definitely make serious mobile game players happy. It is also worth noting that these are early development devices; PCMag stated that the units it tested were 'flawed and not optimized'. It is entirely possible for us to see better CPU performance in the retail department, although at this point they seem unlikely to catch up with the iPhone 13 and Apple's A15 chips. Nevertheless, the GPU update is still impressive.

These results are not surprising. Despite brand reshaping, we know that Qualcomm may keep its biggest update until 2023, when its new Nuvia processor will debut. For those who were unaware, the people behind Nuvia helped design the Apple A-series chip in the iPhone, ultimately developing it into an M1 chip. Qualcomm acquired Nuvia earlier this year, and Nuvia's team is Qualcomm's best choice to catch up with Apple. It is also important to remember some viewpoints; These benchmark tests are unlikely to be meaningful for the daily performance of the way most people use their phones. I think we have passed the critical point of diminishing performance returns for typical smartphone processors. Nevertheless, faster performance is a good omen for longevity, and for Qualcomm, which is pursuing higher numbers, it is even more important in the PC field, where there is still great room for practical improvement. However, one thing is clear: as Google designs its own chips, Intel enters the GPU field, NVIDIA attempts to acquire ARM, and the CPU and GPU market will only heat up in the coming years.