TL; DR
- Qualcomm launches Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 for budget phones, but it’s nearly identical to last year’s 7s Gen 3.
- The main change is the prime Cortex-A720 core clocked at 2.7 GHz (vs 2.5 GHz before) and a 7% CPU/GPU boost.
- The first phone to feature this chipset could be the Redmi Note 15 Pro+, with 7,000 mAh battery and 90W charging.
Qualcomm has officially unveiled the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4, slotting it into the affordable Android smartphone space. But the excitement around this launch is muted, because at its core, this is hardly a new chip. It’s almost a rebrand of last year’s Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, with the only noticeable difference being a modest CPU clock bump.
The new prime Cortex-A720 core runs at 2.7 GHz, up from 2.5 GHz on the Gen 3. Qualcomm says this results in around 7% better CPU and GPU performance overall, but beyond that, nothing major has changed. The processor still uses the 4 nm node, keeps the same 1+3+4 architecture (one Cortex-A720 prime, three Cortex-A720 performance, and four Cortex-A520 efficiency cores), and runs on nearly identical Adreno GPU hardware.
On the AI side, the company talks up real-time translation and transcription in multiple languages. Connectivity remains largely the same, with 5G speeds of up to 2.9 Gbps, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.4. Qualcomm also mentions Quick Charge 4+ support this time.
Despite Qualcomm’s bold statement that the 7s Gen 4 will “exceed expectations system-wide” with improvements to gaming, audio, and connectivity, reactions from the tech community have been skeptical. That sentiment echoes what many observers are thinking: in real-world usage, the performance bump may barely be noticeable.
The contrast becomes clear when you look at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, announced earlier this year. That was a genuine generational leap, delivering a 27% jump in CPU performance, a 30% boost in GPU rendering, and a huge 65% increase in AI efficiency compared to the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3.
It also brought higher memory bandwidth and better benchmarks overall, with AnTuTu scores shooting from 818K to 1,086K. Compared to that, the 7s Gen 4 feels more like a placeholder refresh to keep budget phones updated without serious improvements.
Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 Smartphones
The first device confirmed to launch with this chip is the Redmi Note 15 Pro+, which will debut in China on August 21. Xiaomi is teasing a massive 7,000 mAh battery, 90W fast charging, and a high-resolution display as key highlights. Early Geekbench listings for the phone show a single-core score of 1,228, which fits Qualcomm’s claim of only modest gains over the Gen 3.
So, while the Redmi Note 15 Pro+ could still appeal to buyers with its massive battery and charging speeds, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 is unlikely to generate much excitement on its own. At the end of the day, it’s a small overclock with a new name, and not much else.
We can expect other brands like realme, Nothing, OPPO, POCO, and Motorola to also launch their devices with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 SoC.
Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 vs. Snapdragon 7s Gen 4
| Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 | Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 | |
| Process Node | 4 nm (TSMC) | 4 nm (TSMC) |
| CPU Configuration | 1x Cortex-A720 @ 2.5 GHz 3x Cortex-A720 @ 2.4 GHz 4x Cortex-A520 @ 1.8 GHz | 1x Cortex-A720 @ 2.7 GHz 3x Cortex-A720 @ 2.4 GHz 4x Cortex-A520 @ 1.8 GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 810 | Adreno (7% faster) |
| Memory Support | LPDDR5 @ 3,200 MHz LPDDR4X @ 2,133 MHz UFS 3.1 | LPDDR5 (similar) UFS 3.1 (similar) |
| Connectivity | 5G up to 2.9 Gbps Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.4 | 5G up to 2.9 Gbps Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.4 Quick Charge 4+ |
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