After presenting its flagship chipset for the next twelve months, Qualcomm can now focus on other market niches that are less demanding in terms of innovation, but equally or more important in sales than the high end.
Proof of this is the launch of the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4, a chip that brings 144 Hz screens into the mid-range more convenient. And yes, that newness may seem like anything for what the more expensive SoCs get, but in the mid-range are the strongest sales of most on the planet and they are what pays the bills to innovate at the highest levels.
36% more powerful in the CPU, 59% in the GPU, cameras up to 200 MP and much more
The new Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 will be the chip that powers many of the most affordable mid-range phones in 2026. It’s more than an evolution of the popular Snapdragon 6s Gen 3, because it suffers important internal changes that improve your performanceas well as adding new features.
An example of this is that it leaves behind the configuration of 2 Cortex-A78 cores + 6 Cortex-A55 cores from the last generation. On the other hand, the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 makes an effort to do so 4 Cortex-A78 cores @ 2.4 GHz + 4 Cortex-A55 cores @ 1.8 GHzprioritizing performance.
How much? So much so that it is up to 36% more powerful in the CPU. Something similar happens with graphics, because performance improves up to 59%, although Qualcomm has not specified which GPU this chip is equipped with. He also adds Support for variable speed shading and fast game tappingto optimize rendering and reduce latencies during playback respectively. And no, consumption does not increase in the same way, because the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 It is manufactured by Samsung using its 4nm node (The third generation was 6 nm).
Furthermore, this SoC is Qualcomm’s first to enable affordable mobile phone use screens with Full HD+ resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate. Until now the limit was 120 Hz, so we’ve made an important step forward, especially if you play competitively. Is there more? Obviously.
The Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 is compatible with LPDDR5 RAM up to 3200 MHz and UFS 3.1 storagetwo technologies much faster than LPDDR4X and UFS 2.2. In fact, just a couple of years ago, both were high-end exclusives.
And when we said that the changes were profound, it is because they really were. There is also news in the ISP, because the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 accepts it cameras up to 200 MP and allows recording in 2K at 30 FPS. It gets Snapdragon Sound compatibility and WiFi connectivity also goes up a notch, up to WiFi 6E. Meanwhile, Bluetooth is 5.4 and is compatible with 5G mmWave and sub-6GHz networks.
All the specifications of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 4
|
Characteristics |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s generation 4 |
| processor | 4 Cortex-A78 at 2.4 GHz. 4 Cortex-A55 at 1.8 GHz. |
| Production process | 4 nanometers from Samsung. |
| GPU | To be confirmed. |
| RAM and storage |
Up to 12GB of 3.2GHz LPDDR5X RAM. UFS 3.1 storage. |
| Screen | FHD+ screens with a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz. |
| Camera | Dual 12-bit Spectra ISP.
|
| Connectivity |
|
| Load | Qualcomm Fast Charging 4+. |
When will the first phones with Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 arrive?
There is no estimated date for this to happen, because this SoC is not a Snapdragon 8 where everyone races to be first. However, we can almost assume that brands like it Xiaomi, Honor, OPPO, Motorola and Realme will equip it on one of your mobile phones.
Let’s hope there are several, because the competition is always good, but also because this chip represents a leap like we haven’t seen in this range for some time.
