At Snapdragon Summit 2023, Qualcomm unveiled its most powerful mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with custom Kryo cores. To evaluate whether it can outrank Apple’s A-series chipset, we compared the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 vs Apple A17 Pro, and we were surprised by the on-paper improvements. Now, the chip maker has released a number of benchmarks for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, including Geekbench, 3DMark, AnTuTu, GFXBench, and more. So to learn how the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 performs, follow our guide below.
The benchmarks results have been provided by Qualcomm. All tests have been performed on Qualcomm’s Reference Design (QRD) device. Consumer phones by various OEMs may have slightly lower score, depending on how well they are fine-tuned by companies.
Geekbench 6
In the Geekbench 6 test, which evaluates the CPU performance, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 2,329 in the single-core test and a whopping 7,501 points in the multi-core test. This is the highest score a mobile chipset has received in multi-threaded tasks, even outranking Apple’s A17 Pro chipset (Single: 2897 | Multi: 7261).
| Geekbench 6 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
|---|---|
| Single-core | 2329 |
| Multi-core | 7526 |
AnTuTu Benchmark
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has broken all records in the AnTuTu benchmark test. It is a test designed to evaluate all of the compute units in the chipset, including the CPU, GPU, memory performance, and user experience. It breached the 2 million mark in the AnTuTu benchmark test. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 2,139,281 in the AnTuTu test, which is even higher than Dimensity 9300’s score (2,055,084), which has four Cortex-X4 cores and four Cortex-A720 cores.
| AnTuTu | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 2139281 |
| CPU | 474884 |
| GPU | 927463 |
| Memory | 389166 |
| UX | 347768 |
PCMark
The PCMark test is designed to measure the performance of the chipset on everyday tasks using various activities instead of complex algorithms. In the PCMark test, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 21,628 points.
3DMark WildLife
To assess the powerful Adreno GPU on the 8 Gen 3, Qualcomm ran a number of 3DMark WildLife tests, and here are the results. In the standard 3DMark WildLife test, the SD8Gen3 scored a massive 19,114 points with 114 FPS.
In the more intensive 3DMark WildLife Extreme test, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 5338 points with an average frame rate of 32 FPS. For comparison, the Apple A17 Pro scored 4075 on the same GPU test. Finally, in the 3DMark Solar Bay benchmark test, which evaluates the ray-tracing capability, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 8547 points with 32 FPS. Again, Apple A17 Pro remains behind with a score of 6594 on the same test.
| 3DMark GPU Tests | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
|---|---|
| 3DMark WildLife | 19114 score / 114 FPS |
| 3DMark WildLife Extreme | 5338 score / 32 FPS |
| 3DMark Solar Bay | 8547 score / 32 FPS |
GFXBench
GFXBench is another benchmarking suite that measures the GPU’s performance. In the 1080p Aztec Ruins Vulkan test, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 241 FPS, and in the 1440p Aztec Ruins Vulkan test, it scored 96 FPS, and finally, in the 1440p Aztec Ruins OpenGL test, it scored 83 FPS.
| GFXBench Tests | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
|---|---|
| GFXBench Aztec Ruins Vulkan (Normal Tier) Offscreen (1080p) | 241 FPS |
| GFXBench Aztec Ruins Vulkan (High Tier) Offscreen (1440p) | 96 FPS |
| GFXBench Aztec Ruins OpenGL (High Tier) Offscreen (1440p) | 83 FPS |
AI Benchmark Tests
In the AITuTu test that evaluates the NPU’s performance, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 1,457,097 points. In another AI benchmarking test, AIMark, it scored 240,147 points. You can find more MLPerf benchmark numbers in the table below.
| AI Benchmark Tests | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
|---|---|
| AITuTu | 1457097 |
| AIMark | 240147 |
| Image Classification (MLPerf) | 4997 |
| Object Detection (MLPerf) | 2441 |
| v2.0 Image segmentation (MLPerf) | 1484 |
| Language Understanding (MLPerf) | 366 |
| Super resolution (MLPerf) | 157 |
Browser Benchmarks
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scored 241 in JetStream 2, a popular browser benchmarking test. In another Speedometer 2.1 test, it received a score of 311, which is double of what the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 could muster. And in the final WebXPRT3 test, it scored 310 points.
| Browser Tests | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
|---|---|
| JetStream 2 | 241 |
| Speedometer 2.1 | 311 |
| WebXPRT3 | 310 |
It’s clear from these benchmark scores that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is an incredibly powerful chipset with superlative performance in all departments. Except for single-core CPU results, the 8 Gen 3 sets a new benchmark in every test. I am particularly impressed by the new Adreno 750 GPU and its efficiency. It has finally outranked Apple in ray-tracing graphics performance as well. So what are your thoughts on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3? Let us know in the comments below.
Sagnik Das Gupta
