- The Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, despite being a 7-series chipset, comes very close to the flagship, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.
- It rivals the SD 8 Gen 2 in the Geekbench test and does better on the CPU Throttling test.
- While SD 7+ Gen 3's Adreno 732 GPU doesn't defeat the Adreno 740 GPU on SD 8 Gen 2, it surely packs a punch.
Qualcomm introduced the new Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 only a few days ago, and OnePlus has already announced the OnePlus Ace 3V in China with this chipset. We got our hands on the OnePlus Ace 3V — likely to launch in India as the OnePlus Nord 4 — and ran several benchmark tests to evaluate its performance. So, in this guide, we compare the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, a flagship chipset from 2022. We have done extensive testing of both of these Qualcomm chipsets to understand their performance difference.
Note: We have performed the benchmark tests on the OnePlus Ace 3V powered by the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and OnePlus 12R powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Specs Comparison
Before we move ahead, understand the Snapdragon chipset naming scheme and check out the specs comparison between Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Release Date March 2024 November 2022 Process Node TSMC 4nm TSMC 4nm CPU Octa-core Kryo CPU
1x 2.8GHz (Cortex-X4)
4x 2.6GHz (Cortex-A720)
3x 1.9GHz (Cortex-A520)Octa-core Kryo CPU
1x 3.2GHz (Cortex-X3)
2x 2.8GHz (Cortex-A715)
2x 2.8GHz (Cortex-A710)
3x 2.0GHz (Cortex-A510)GPU Adreno 732 GPU
Super Resolution
AFME 2.0
Game Post Processing AcceleratorAdreno 740 GPU
Hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing
Unreal Engine 5
Game Post Processing AcceleratorNPU Hexagon NPU
Run on-device AI modelsHexagon NPU Camera Support Cognitive ISP, Triple 18-bit ISPs
Up to 200MP photo capture
Bokeh Engine 2.0
Snapdragon Low Light Vision
Google Ultra HDR18-Bit Spectra ISP
Cognitive ISP
Snapdragon SightConnectivity Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, LE Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, LE Modem Snapdragon X63 5G Modem
Peak Download Speed 4.2 GbpsSnapdragon X70 5G Modem
Peak Download Speed 10 GbpsStorage / RAM Support UFS 4.0
LPDDR5X memory up to 4200MHzUFS 4.0
LPDDR5X memory up to 4200MHzNavIC Support Yes Yes AV1 Decode No Yes
Geekbench 6 Score
First of all, we ran the Geekbench 6 test on both Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 to evaluate their CPU performance. The Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 scored 1,747 in the single-core test and 4,511 in the multi-core test. In comparison, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 achieved a slightly higher score of 1,934 in single-core tasks and 5,367 in multi-threaded tasks.
Although Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 packs older cores, high CPU frequency (up to 3.2GHz) ensures it squeezes more performance out of the chipset. Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, on the other hand, is clocked up to 2.8GHz, which offers good performance while maintaining efficiency. For a 7-series chipset to come closer to an 8-series flagship SoC is definitely exciting.
| Geekbench 6 | Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-core | 1,747 | 1,934 |
| Multi-core | 4,511 | 5,367 |
AnTuTu Benchmark Score
In the AnTuTu benchmark test, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 came close to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The SD 7+ Gen 3 scored 14,56,859 points on the AnTuTu test whereas the SD 8 Gen 2 scored 15,35,770 points. There is a difference of just 5% in terms of overall performance. In the CPU test, it’s almost on par with the 8 Gen 2.
However, in the GPU test, the Adreno 740 GPU on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has a somewhat higher lead. But the Adreno 732 GPU on the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 3 is not a slouch either. In the memory test, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 performed well as it’s paired with a UFS 4.0 storage.
The OnePlus 12R we are using in this test packs the older UFS 3.1 storage, which may be affecting its performance. Both come with LPDDR5X memory though. In the UX text, both chipsets perform on similar lines.
AnTuTu Benchmark Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 AnTuTu Score 14,56,859 15,35,770 CPU 3,77,796 3,88,627 GPU 4,94,144 6,05,405 Memory 3,24,334 2,56,269 UX 2,60,585 2,85,469
CPU Throttling Test
In the CPU Throttling test, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 performed really well. It includes newer CPU cores, which are very efficient. The SD 7+ Gen 3 throttled to 84% of its maximum performance, showing minimum performance degradation over a 15-minute test. We ran the test at least seven times, and it was pretty consistent.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 throttled to 75% of its maximum performance, however, it executed more instructions in a 15-minute test. By the tail end, the CPU showed some performance drops. In terms of efficiency and sustaining high CPU stress, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 has done better than the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.
3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test
To test the GPU’s performance, we ran the intensive 3DMark Wild Life Extreme stress test. The Adreno 732 GPU on the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 got the best loop score of 2,954 and the lowest loop score of 2,476 with a stability of 83.8%.
On the other hand, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2’s Adreno 740 GPU achieved the best loop score of 3,738 and the lowest loop score of 2,468 with a stability of 65.9%. The Adreno 740 GPU is indeed more powerful, likely because of higher clock speeds. It also gets HW-accelerated Ray Tracing capability, which the Adreno 732 GPU lacks.
While the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 doesn’t defeat the flagship Adreno 740 GPU on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, it does pack a capable GPU and competes against the flagship GPUs out there. By the way, we didn’t perform the Solar Bay test as Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 doesn’t support Ray Tracing.
3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Best loop score 2,954 3,738 Lowest loop score 2,476 2,463 Stability 83.8% 65.9%
AI Performance Test
Coming to the AI performance test, we ran the AITuTu benchmark, and the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 scored 5,82,942 points. In contrast, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 scored almost double the points, i.e. 10,07,228 points. It means that the Hexagon NPU is almost 2x more powerful than the Hexagon NPU on the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3.
By the way, we also tried to run the Geekbench ML app on the OnePlus Ace 3V, but it was crashing repeatedly. When it runs properly, we will add more AI benchmark numbers from both chipsets.
| Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| AITuTu Score | 5,82,942 | 10,07,228 |
5G Speed Test
Finally, in the 5G speed test, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which has an upgraded Snapdragon X70 5G modem performed slightly better. It clocked a peak download speed of 394 Mbps and a peak upload speed of 22.3 Mbps.
Whereas the older Snapdragon X63 5G modem on the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 achieved 382 Mbps in download speed and 24.5 Mbps in upload speed. Both tests were done on Jio’s 5G network.
Note that we have imported the OnePlus Ace 3V from China, which may not have some of the 5G bands for India, hence, the performance can be suboptimal.
5G Test Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Download Speed 382 Mbps 394 Mbps Upload Speed 24.5 Mbps 22.3 Mbps
The Verdict
Overall, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 does not defeat the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in any of the benchmark tests. However, it goes on to show that a 7-series chipset is finally rivaling a generation-old flagship SoC. This makes the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 an exciting chipset in the mid-range segment. We intend to compare it with the newly launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 when we get our hands on the chipset.
So are you excited for Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3-powered smartphones? Let us know in the comments below.
