Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 arrives to bring AI capabilities to mid-range phones

Qualcomm is looking to bring AI capabilities to even more phones with the newly announced Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chip introduced today (August 20). Meant to power some of the best cheap phones and mid-range devices , the 7s Gen 3 promises more generative AI capabilities and mobile gaming improvements.

They are also hyping improved 4K video capture and up to 200 megapixel photo taking along with AI editing.

“Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 will bring the best of the 7-series to more mid-tier devices by selecting top 7-series features including on-device AI support,” said Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handsets, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

According to Qualcomm, the Gen 3 chip offers almost 20% higher CPU performance, 12% overall power savings and 30% better AI performance. We won't know for sure until we can test any devices that actually feature the chipset.

For performance, Qualcomm is using their Kryo CPU which features 7 cores which includes four efficiency cores and three performance cores. It also has an Adreno GPU for HDR gaming and decoding.

All of this is meant to make AI more accessible to mid-range devices especially with new features like updates to Google's Gemini and internal AI features like Samsung's Galaxy AI , another company working to bring AI to non-flagship devices.

As for availability, Qualcomm says that Xiaomi will launch the first phone with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset in September with other manufacturers to follow. Qualcomm didn't say what other company's will have devices featuring this chip, though promotional materials mention Samsung and Sharp.

“The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 sets new benchmarks for performance in its class and we are excited for our customers to experience its extensive capabilities, including advanced on-device AI, engaging gaming experiences, and stunning photography," said Thomas Wang, General Manager of Redmi at Xiaomi.

The company is expected to debut the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in October at its Snapdragon Summit , so we might see more compatible devices then.

More from Tom's Guide

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 arrives to give budget phones a big boost
• We just benchmarked the first Snapdragon X Elite laptops — Apple and Intel are on notice
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 — everything we're expecting from the next big Android chipset