Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 and 4 Gen 5 Chips Launched to Boost Battery Life and UI Smoothness in Smartphones

Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 and Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 processors for mid-range and entry-level smartphones, focusing on gaming, smoother UI performance, and battery efficiency upgrades.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 (SM6850) introduces Adaptive Performance Engine 4.0 and Adaptive Performance FPS 3.0 for more stable gaming performance. It also supports Snapdragon Game Super Resolution for visual upscaling and battery optimization.

Qualcomm said the chip features four CPU cores running at up to 2.6GHz, while the new Adreno GPU delivers 21% better performance and 8% improved power efficiency over the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4.

Built on a 4nm process, the chip supports up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM at 3,200MHz, along with LPDDR4X memory and UFS 3.1 storage. It supports displays up to 1080p+ at 144Hz, but still lacks AV1 decoding hardware.

Qualcomm also added Snapdragon Smooth Motion UI, which the company said improves app launch speeds by 20% and reduces stutter by 18% compared to the previous generation.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 uses a dual 12-bit ISP with support for up to 200MP cameras, 4K 30fps video recording, AI night vision, AI image enhancement, and up to 100x digital zoom.

Connectivity includes sub-6GHz 5G with speeds up to 2.8Gbps, tri-band Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6.0 with aptX Adaptive. However, mmWave support, aptX Lossless, L2 GPS support, and USB 3 connectivity have been removed.

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 (SM4850) delivers a 77% GPU performance boost over the Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 and becomes the first Snapdragon 4 series chip capable of supporting 90fps gaming.

Qualcomm said the chip offers 43% faster app launches and 25% less screen stutter. CPU clock speeds rise slightly to 2.4GHz, while power efficiency improves by 10%.

The chip only supports LPDDR4X RAM at up to 2,133MHz, dropping LPDDR5 support from the previous generation.

It adds Dual SIM Dual Active support for simultaneous 5G and 5G/4G connections, with download speeds reaching up to 2.8Gbps on sub 6GHz networks.

Other features include dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 with aptX Adaptive, support for up to 108MP cameras, 4K video recording, and 1080p+ displays at 144Hz.

Qualcomm said the first smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 and Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 will launch in the second half of the year.

Honor, Oppo, Realme, and Redmi are already working on devices using the new chips.