- We ran several benchmark tests on the Xiaomi Civi 4 Pro to evaluate the performance of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset.
- In comparison to the premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 performed reasonably well in the CPU department.
- However, the Adreno 750 GPU on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a powerhouse, and the Adreno 735 on the 8s Gen 3 is not a match.
After Qualcomm released the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, Xiaomi was the first to launch a smartphone – the Civi 4 Pro in China – powered by this chipset. The latest Snapdragon 8-series chipset is said to deliver flagship performance without the bells and whistles generally seen on premium chipsets. So to evaluate the performance, we have conducted a benchmark comparison between Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. We have tested the CPU, GPU, and NPU of both processors using Geekbench, AnTuTu, and other benchmarking apps.
Note:
We benchmarked the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 on the Xiaomi Civi 4 Pro and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 on the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro.
Specs Comparison
Before we proceed, you should understand the Snapdragon chipset naming scheme and the specs comparison between Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 and 8 Gen 3.
| Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Process Node | TSMC 4nm | TSMC 4nm |
| CPU | Octa-core Kryo CPU 1x 3.0GHz (Cortex-X4) 4x 2.8GHz (Cortex-A720) 3x 2.0GHz (Cortex-A520) | Octa-core Kryo CPU 1x 3.3GHz (Cortex-X4) 3x 3.2GHz (Cortex-A720) 2x 3.0GHz (Cortex-A720) 2x 2.3GHz (Cortex-A520) |
| GPU | Adreno 735 HW Ray Tracing AFME 2.0 | Adreno 750 HW Ray Tracing with Global Illumination AFME 2.0 Unreal Engine 5 Lumen |
| NPU | Hexagon NPU Run AI models up to 10B parameters | Hexagon NPU Run AI models up to 10B parameters |
| Camera Support | Cognitive ISP, Triple 18-bit ISPs Up to 200MP photo capture 108MP ZSL, 64+36 ZSL, 36+36+36 ZSL 4K HDR video capture at 60 FPS | Cognitive ISP, Triple 18-bit ISPs Up to 200MP photo capture 108MP ZSL, 64+36 ZSL, 36+36+36 ZSL 8K HDR video capture at 30FPS Night Vision Video Capture with AI Noise Reduction |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, LE | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, LE |
| Modem | Snapdragon X70 5G Modem Peak Download Speed 5 Gbps Peak Upload Speed 3.5 Gbps | Snapdragon X75 5G modem Peak Download Speed 10Gbps Peak Upload Speed 3.5 Gbps |
| Storage / RAM Support | UFS 4.0 LPDDR5X memory up to 4200MHz | UFS 4.0 LPDDR5X memory up to 4800MHz |
| AV1 Codec Support | HW-accelerated AV1 Decode only | HW-accelerated AV1 Decode only |
| NavIC Support | Yes | Yes |
Geekbench 6 Score
In the Geekbench 6 CPU test, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 scored on expected lines, achieving a single-core score of 1,999 points and a multi-core score of 5,273 points. In comparison, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scores 2,234 in the single-core test and a whopping 6,985 in the multi-core test.
In multi-threaded tasks, there is a considerable difference between the two chipsets despite having the same CPU cores. The difference of 300MHz to 400MHz in clock speeds pushes the 8 Gen 3 to deliver great performance. That said, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is on par with the last-gen flagship chipset, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
| Geekbench 6 | Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-core | 1,999 | 2,234 |
| Multi-core | 5,273 | 6,985 |
AnTuTu Benchmark
In the AnTuTu benchmark test, the new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 gets 1,523,930 points whereas the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 crosses the 2-million mark, achieving a total score of 2,063,041 points. Besides the CPU performance, the Adreno 750 GPU on the 8 Gen 3 has performed exceptionally well, taking the lead even further.
The Adreno 735 GPU on the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is really capable and supports HW-accelerated Ray Tracing too. However, it’s no match for the powerful Adreno 750 GPU.
| AnTuTu Benchmark | Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu Score | 1,523,930 | 2,063,041 |
| CPU | 391,196 | 453,927 |
| GPU | 520,531 | 834,879 |
| Memory | 344,714 | 404,061 |
| UX | 267,489 | 370,174 |
CPU Throttling Test
Next, in the CPU Throttling test, both chipsets have done pretty well. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, in the 15-minute test, throttled the CPU to 94% of its maximum performance. In contrast, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 throttled to 90% of its maximum performance. There were no visible drops in performance on both chipsets, which is great.
Geekbench GPU Test
We tried to run the 3DMark GPU test on the Xiaomi Civi 4 Pro, but it crashed repeatedly. So we have included results from the Geekbench GPU test, for both OpenCL and Vulkan frameworks. In the OpenCL test, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 scored 8,838, and in the Vulkan test, it got 10,154 points.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, on the other hand, scored 14,540 points in the OpenCL test and 16,522 points in the Vulkan test. There is a difference of more than 60% between the GPU performance of both chipsets is huge.
Qualcomm has put the top-tier Adreno 750 GPU on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and if you want a flagship gaming experience, you should consider this chipset. Note that the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is also packing a capable GPU, and it performs close to the Adreno 740 GPU on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
| Geekbench 6 GPU | Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 |
|---|---|---|
| OpenCL | 8,838 | 14,540 |
| Vulkan | 10,154 | 16,522 |
AI Performance Test
To test the Hexagon NPU, we ran the Geekbench ML test on both 8-series chipsets, and strangely, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 performed better than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
The 8s Gen 3 achieved a score of 612 points whereas the SD 8 Gen 3 got 504 points on the NNAPI backend. Keep in mind, that Qualcomm chipsets are said to be lacking support for NNAPI, which may explain the low scores.
We also ran the AI Benchmark app, however, the Xiaomi Civi 4 Pro performed poorly likely due to a lack of framework support. We will update the article when the results are consistent.
The Verdict: How Underpowered Is the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3?
From the benchmark numbers, it’s evident that the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is not a premium-tier chipset, and doesn’t come close to the latest flagship, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. However, it rivals the last-gen flagship chipset from Qualcomm, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and matches the performance in nearly all segments. It can be seen as a souped-up version of the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, which was recently launched.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 puts itself in a unique position. It’s better than the 7-series segment, almost flagship-level while lacking some Snapdragon experiences. On the efficiency front, I believe, it’s going to offer a better experience. What do you think about this new chipset? Do let us know in the comments below.
