The lower-end Snapdragon 7c+ Gen 3 offers a more modest 60% jump in multi-core CPU performance, and 30% in single-core workloads. The GPU gets a meaningful 70% boost as well.

Qualcomm says the 8cx Gen 3 is manufactured on the 5nm process node, which suggests that it uses Arm’s Cortex-X1 cores or a modified Kryo 680 design — not the newer Arm Cortex-X2. In that respect, it seems similar to the Snapdragon 888, its previous flagship mobile SoCs. Still, the decision to move away from 7nm should mean better performance per watt. But just how powerful is this new high-end chip?

In terms of CPU performance, last year’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 went toe-to-toe with ultrabook-class chips such as the low-power, 15W variant of the Intel i5 processor. That was a fairly decent showing from Qualcomm, especially considering that the Snapdragon chip consumed half as much power at 7W.