Qualcomm has officially announced its latest mobile chipsets, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 and Snapdragon 4 Gen 5. Designed for upper midrange and entry-level smartphones respectively, both platforms focus on delivering faster performance, smoother gaming experiences, and improved battery efficiency at lower price points.
According to the company, both chipsets also introduce Snapdragon Smooth Motion UI, a new feature aimed at improving animation fluidity, reducing screen stutter, and speeding up app launches. Qualcomm says the technology is intended to make affordable smartphones feel more responsive and premium during everyday use.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 5
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 serves as the more capable of the two new platforms, bringing several flagship-inspired features into the midrange category. Qualcomm says the chipset offers a 21% graphics performance uplift over its predecessor alongside an 8% improvement in power efficiency.
The platform also introduces Adaptive Performance Engine 4.0 and Adaptive Performance FPS 3.0, which are designed to maintain more stable frame rates during gaming sessions. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Game Super Resolution technology is also included, allowing games to upscale visuals while helping reduce power consumption. Additionally, the chipset supports displays with refresh rates of up to 144Hz at 1080p+ resolution, alongside newer connectivity standards such as Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 with tri-band wireless networking support.
On the imaging side, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 includes a 12-bit dual ISP with support for cameras up to 200MP. Qualcomm has also added several AI-assisted photography features, including AI night vision, AI image enhancement, and up to 100x digital zoom. Video recording support remains capped at 4K 30fps using H.264 or H.265 encoding. The chipset also supports LPDDR5 memory and UFS 3.1 storage configurations.
However, the new platform does come with a few notable omissions compared to its predecessor. Qualcomm has removed mmWave 5G support, while USB connectivity has been downgraded to USB 2.0 speeds from USB 3.2 Gen 1 on the previous generation.
Snapdragon 4 Gen 5
Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 is aimed at more affordable smartphones, though Qualcomm claims it still delivers sizeable improvements over the previous generation. The company says the chipset offers up to 77% higher GPU performance, making it the first Snapdragon 4-series platform capable of supporting 90FPS gaming.
Snapdragon Smooth Motion UI also plays a role here, with Qualcomm claiming 43% faster app launches and 25% less interface stutter compared to the earlier model. While CPU clock speeds have only increased slightly, the company says efficiency refinements allow for up to 10% better battery performance.
The chipset supports 1080p+ displays with refresh rates up to 144Hz, cameras up to 108MP, and now includes support for 4K video recording. Qualcomm has also upgraded the modem with Dual SIM Dual Active 5G + 5G/4G support, enabling simultaneous connectivity across two SIMs.
That said, the platform continues to rely on older local connectivity standards such as Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1. The chipset also only supports LPDDR4X memory, unlike the previous generation which supported LPDDR5 RAM.
Devices Expected Soon
Qualcomm has confirmed that the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 will first appear in upcoming devices from OEMs including Honor and REDMI. Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 is set to debut in future smartphones from OPPO, realme, and REDMI.
(Source: Qualcomm [official website])
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