It has already become common for mobile processor manufacturers to launch their new flagship at the beginning of the year, and months later they present an improved and definitive version of it. Qualcomm is one of the brands that has joined this tradition.

This year, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 was presented as the most powerful processor for Android mobiles. In fact, there was a dispute between the brands to see who would be the first to launch a mobile with this SoC (an achievement that Motorola took). However, months later the improved version of this chipset would arrive: the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.

Qualcomm claims that the new Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 offers significant improvements over the SD 8 Gen 1 . The North American brand of semiconductors mentions that this improved version has 30% more energy efficiency. In addition, it has a CPU and GPU that are 10% faster and offers a 20% improvement in AI. But… is this real? Well, join us to discover it in the following comparison.

Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1: differences and benchmarks

Fortunately, this year it has become much easier to compare Qualcomm’s new processor and its respective upgraded version on equal terms. Why? Well, because the gaming mobile brand Nubia launched two variants of its 2022 flagship : the RedMagic 7 that has the SD 8 Gen 1 under the hood, and the RedMagic 7S that has the SD Plus 8 Gen 1.

Well, the guys at PhoneArena have carried out a series of performance tests using the most demanding benchmarks to check which of these processors is better. In addition, they took advantage of the similarities in terms of features and cooling system that the RedMagic 7 and RedMagic 7S have to achieve the definitive comparison between these two chipsets… What was the result? Well, then we will tell you.

In 3DMark’s extreme performance test, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 shines

One of the most demanding benchmarks in the world of mobile telephony is 3DMark’s Wildlife Extreme. Not in vain does it have the word “Extreme” in its name. This test runs a set of fairly demanding graphics scenes in a loop (up to 20 times without interruption) and during it tracks performance, SoC throttling and battery consumption.

And… Which processor did better in this test? Well clearly the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The Plus version scored 2814 in the best performing loop and its lowest score during one of the loops was 2798. This represents a 7% improvement in the highest score and 14.5% lower score than Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

Geekbench 5 shows that the improvements promised by Qualcomm are real

Once the RedMagic 7 and RedMagic 7S cooled down after the previous demanding test, these flagship gamers went through the Geekbench 5 test. This benchmark is specially designed to evaluate the power of the CPU (Central Processing Unit). Let’s remember that SD 8+ Gen 1 came with clock speed improvements in each of its cores.

In Geekbench 5’s single-core performance test, the SD 8 Plus Gen beat the SD 8 Gen 1’s score by 7.2% . Furthermore, in tests evaluating multi-core operation, the upgraded version of the Qualcomm processor offers a 13% improvement over the standard model. So far, the percentage improvements are similar in the two aforementioned benchmarks.

The GFXBench benchmark shows the superiority of the graphics of the SD 8 Plus Gen 1

Finally, it remains to compare the GPU (graphics processing unit) of these two processors and for this there are the GFXBench tests. In this section, Qualcomm also points out that the improvement is equal to that of the CPU, that is, 10%. Will it be true? Well, everything seems to indicate yes.

Technically, both chipsets use the same graphics (Adreno 730) but with a higher frequency in the improved version (0.90 GHz compared to 0.82 GHz). Well, when running the GFXBench Aztec Ruins 5 test for 5 consecutive times, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 reported an 8.5% to 9.8% improvement in graphics performance over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

In conclusion: Qualcomm does not lie to us, the SD 8+ Gen 1 is an improved (and superior) version of the SD 8 Gen 1

As evidenced by the performance tests that the RedMagic 7 and RedMagic 7S underwent, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is more powerful than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 . In addition, it is verified that Qualcomm has not lied to us in the improvements with which it promotes the improved version of its processor. Although the same figures were not obtained, the improvements of between 10% of the CPU and the GPU are more than evident.

Without a doubt, Qualcomm currently has one of the best processors in the Android world , but… is it the best? Well, if you want to know, we invite you to take a look at the comparison of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and the Dimensity 9000+, MediaTek’s flagship for 2022.

The post The Red Magic 7 puts them to the test: Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 first appeared on CuteRank.