Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 series is known for bringing excellent performance to mid-range smartphones, but its naming scheme often leaves buyers scratching their heads. Take the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 and 7s Gen 3, for example — at first glance, you might expect the latter to be an upgrade. However, the reality isn’t that simple.
The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3, announced in August 2024, comes with improved CPU cores and GPU performance, yet its peak clock speed (2.5GHz) is actually lower than the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 (2.63GHz), which launched in November 2023. The 7 Gen 3 also offers better connectivity and faster charging support. To find out which one delivers superior performance, we tested the two chips through multiple benchmarks. We have also highlighted the key differences to help you make a better decision.
Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 vs 7s Gen 3: Benchmarks
[Note: The following benchmark tests have been conducted on the Vivo T3 Pro (powered by Snapdragon 7 Gen 3) and Realme 14 Pro+ (powered by Snapdragon 7s Gen 3).]
AnTuTu performance
AnTuTu is a widely used benchmarking tool to measure the overall performance of a device. It runs a series of tests to evaluate processing power, graphics rendering, multitasking efficiency, and overall system responsiveness.
On AnTuTu v10, the Vivo T3 Pro, powered by Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, scored 811,593 AnTuTu points. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3-powered Realme 14 Pro+ is slightly ahead with 823,476 points.
| SD 7 Gen 3 | SD 7s Gen 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu score | 811,593 | 823,476 |
| CPU | 257,428 | 278,545 |
| GPU | 255,513 | 197,417 |
| Memory | 144,836 | 180,301 |
| UX | 153,815 | 167,213 |
The breakdown of AnTuTu score reveals that the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 has a faster CPU. This was obvious, as the chip has better CPU cores than the 7 Gen 3, but what wasn’t obvious was the higher GPU score on the 7 Gen 3. The 7s Gen 3 is paired with a faster GPU (Adreno 810) than the 7 Gen 3 (Adreno 720).
The Adreno 810 is generally faster than the Adreno 720, but other factors, such as the cooling system, software optimizations, and memory speed, also play an important role. These factors on the Vivo T3 Pro could have resulted in a slightly lower GPU score than the Realme 14 Pro+ despite a better GPU.
Geekbench performance
Geekbench is popularly used for measuring the CPU performance of devices. The benchmarking tool outputs single-core and multi-core results. The former reflects the device strength when a single CPU core is used, and the latter tells the performance when all CPU cores are at work.
On Geekbench v6, the Vivo T3 Pro, powered by Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, has scored 1,145 single-core points and 3,123 multi-core points. The 7s Gen 3-powered Realme 14 Pro+, on the other hand, has scored 1,193 and 3,229 points in the single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.
| SD 7 Gen 3 | SD 7s Gen 3 | |
| Single core | 1,145 | 1,193 |
| Multi core | 3,123 | 3,229 |
Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 vs 7s Gen 3: Key differences
While both are octa-core chipsets, they have different sets of CPU cores. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 has four Cortex-A715 performance cores and four Cortex-A510 power-efficiency cores, while the 7s Gen 3 has four Cortex-A720 performance cores and four Cortex-A520 power-efficiency cores.
Compared to Cortex-A715, the Cortex-A720 offers up to 20% better power efficiency and up to 15% improvement in peak performance. The Cortex-A520 also brings up to 22% power reduction and up to 8% better performance compared to Cortex-A510.
The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 is stronger on the GPU side as well, featuring Adreno 810, which is slightly more powerful than Adreno 720 on the 7 Gen 3. That means the device using the 7s Gen 3 will have better gaming performance, given that the remaining aspects, such as the cooling system and software optimizations, remain unchanged.
The two Qualcomm chips also bring connectivity differences. The 7 Gen 3 modem allows up to 5Gbps peak download speed, which peaks at 2.9Gbps on the 7s Gen 3. The rest of the connectivity specs are almost unchanged. The 7 Gen 3 also supports high screen resolution and screen refresh rate. It also supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 technology, while the 7s Gen 3 supports Quick Charge 4+.
So, these were the key differences between Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 and 7s Gen 3. Let’s take a quick look at the spec sheet for a better overview of these chips.
Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 vs 7s Gen 3: Spec sheet
| SD 7 Gen 3 | SD 7s Gen 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Announced | November 2023 | August 2024 |
| Process node | 4nm | 4nm |
| Manufacturer | TSMC | TSMC |
| CPU | 1 x 2.63 GHz — Cortex-A715 3 x 2.4 GHz — Cortex-A715 4 x 1.8 GHz — Cortex-A510 | 1 x 2.5 GHz — Cortex-A720 3 x 2.4 GHz — Cortex-A720 4 x 1.8 GHz — Cortex-A520 |
| GPU | Adreno 720 GPU Snapdragon Elite Gaming features | Adreno 810 Snapdragon Elite Gaming features |
| NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon NPU |
| Memory | LPDDR5, up to 3.2GHz | LPDDR5, up to 3.2GHz |
| Storage | UFS 2.2, UFS 3.1 | UFS 2.2, UFS 3.1 |
| USB | USB Type-C version 3.1 | USB Type-C version 3.1 |
| Camera | Spectra triple 12-bit ISPs Up to 200MP single camera Up to 64MP single camera with zero shutter lag Up to 32+21MP dual cameras with zero shutter lag Up to 21MP triple cameras with zero shutter lag Up to 4K video recording | Spectra triple 12-bit ISPs Up to 200MP single camera Up to 64MP single camera with zero shutter lag Up to 32+21MP dual cameras with zero shutter lag Up to 21+21+21MP triple cameras with zero shutter lag Up to 4K video recording |
| Connectivity | Snapdragon X63 5G modem Downlink: 5Gbps Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 Wi-Fi 6E (peak speed: 2.9Gbps) Bluetooth 5.4 | Snapdragon 5G modem Downlink: 2.9Gbps Qualcomm FastConnect Wi-Fi 6E (peak speed: 2.9Gbps) Bluetooth 5.4 |
Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 phones:
Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 phones:
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