Highlights

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 shows underwhelming clock speeds in leaks.
• AnTuTu scores range from 1.7 to 1.9 million, below expectations.
• Early engineering sample may not reflect final performance.
• Concerns arise over Qualcomm’s shift to custom ‘Oryon’ CPU cores.

Benchmarks for Qualcomm’s next flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 mobile processor have surfaced online.

There just might be some cause for concern.

The figures have been shared by a user on the Chinese video platform Bilibili and it seems Qualcomm may have some explaining to do.

But before we get into it, better to preface it by saying none of this is official and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Lackluster CPU Clocks

Powered by Qualcomm’s custom ‘Oryon’ CPU cores replacing ARM’s designs, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 was rumoured to feature a potent 6+2 core configuration with impressive clockspeeds.

However, the leaked tests show the six performance ‘Phoenix M’ cores topping out at just 2.4GHz, while the two efficiency ‘Phoenix L’ cores are capped at 1.94GHz.

These frequencies fall well short of the blazing 3.8GHz clockspeeds that had been speculated for the prime Oryon core based on previous reports and rumors.

Mixed Benchmark Results

In the AnTuTu benchmark, the early Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 sample achieved scores ranging from 1.7 million to 1.9 million points.

While certainly an improvement over the previous Gen 2 chip, these figures seem underwhelming for a supposed generational flagship leap onto a leading 3nm process node.

The leaker did note that even at these lower-than-expected frequencies, the Gen 4’s mid and low CPU performance already surpasses the peak capabilities of the Gen 2.

However, throttled peak performance could bottleneck demanding mobile workloads like gaming.

That doesn’t bode to well for upcoming flagship devices.

Reasons for Concern?

Of course, this is still an extremely early preview based on engineering samples, so performance could improve substantially ahead of the chip’s projected late 2024 consumer launch.

Qualcomm’s custom CPU development is also uncharted territory that could be facing setbacks.

There are parallels to Samsung’s ill-fated efforts with custom CPU cores, which fell well short of expectations and were eventually scrapped due to technical challenges and rising costs.

Ultimately, only official final performance figures will determine if the company has genuinely raised the bar for Android flagships.

FAQs

What clock speeds were reported for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in the leaks?

The leaks suggest the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4’s performance cores reached up to 2.4GHz, with efficiency cores at 1.94GHz, both lower than initially rumored speeds.

How did the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 perform in benchmark tests?

Early benchmarks show the chip scoring between 1.7 million and 1.9 million points on AnTuTu, which is an improvement over its predecessor but below expected generational gains.

Are these leaked performance figures final?

The reported figures are from an engineering sample, meaning the final product could see significant performance improvements before its consumer release.

What concerns have arisen from these early benchmarks?

There are worries that Qualcomm’s new custom CPU architecture might face similar challenges to Samsung’s previous custom cores, which did not meet performance expectations.

Also Read: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Could Have New Architecture With No Efficiency Cores

Also Read: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC Benchmarks Reportedly Leaked Showing Massive Gains Over 8 Gen 3