Table of Contents
Highlights
- The series consists of three variants, namely the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, the Snapdragon G2 Gen 2, and the Snapdragon G1 Gen 2.
- Qualcomm has officially announced its new Snapdragon G series lineup, built specifically to be used in a variety of handheld gaming devices.
- The G3 Gen 3 version especially comes with exciting new features such as hardware accelerated ray tracing, and support for Unreal Engine 5’s Lumen.
On 17th of March, 2025, Qualcomm announced its 2025 roster for the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 Series Gaming Platform, designed to power handheld gaming devices. Qualcomm is widely known for its Snapdragon series of chipsets, found in some of the best performance-driven handsets. Since 2023, Qualcomm has been trying to break the handheld gaming console market with their Snapdragon G brand, sold separately from their smartphone/tablet chipsets.
The new portfolio lineup includes the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, Snapdragon G2 Gen 2, and Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 platforms. According to Qualcomm, these chips will power a variety of Android handheld gaming devices and will offer stronger performance, majorly improved graphics, and overall better connectivity.
Snapdragon G3 Gen 3
Introduced as an upgrade over the G3x Gen 2 from 2023, the new Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 is the frontrunner of the series. Though it does not make use of Qualcomm’s latest Oryon CPU or the Adreno 830 GPU, both of which are used in flagship smartphone processors, it still brings notable upgrades over its predecessors.
Featuring eight Kryo cores that consist of one prime core, five performance cores, and two efficiency cores, the company claims that they bring a 30% increase in performance as compared to the previous iteration. With an Adreno A32 GPU on board, it brings about a 28% performance increase from its predecessor’s A32 GPU. Meanwhile, Qualcomm has not revealed the clock speeds that entails, never mind the exact cores that are being utilized.
The key features of the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 include support for refresh rates up to 144 Hz, and also QHD+ display resolutions. It brings with it hardware-accelerated ray tracing, Snapdragon Game Super Resolution, and Adreno Frame Motion Engine 3.0. This is also the first in Snapdragon’s G series SoC to support Lumen, which is an Unreal Engine 5-based dynamic global illumination and reflections system.
In terms of connectivity, the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 comes with the Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 module, providing it with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity capabilities. If handheld brands were to choose, they could also equip the optional Qualcomm X61 5G modem for on-the-go cloud gaming.
The Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 is set to feature in upcoming devices such as the AYAneo Pockets S2, the AYANEO Gaming Pad, and the ONEXPLAYER ONEXSUGAR 1.
Snapdragon G2 Gen 2
A direct successor of the G2 Gen 1 from 2023, the new Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 features eight Kryo cores. These cores are configured with one prime core, four performance cores, and three efficiency cores. Qualcomm claims that the performance has seen a 2.3x increase as compared to the previous iteration. Equipped with an Adreno A22 GPU, the chip brings about a 3.8x performance increase from the A21 GPU of the G2 Gen 1.
Supporting 144 Hz refresh rates, the G2 Gen 2 also features Snapdragon Game Super Resolution, Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.0, and QHD+ resolutions. Similar to the forerunner of the group, the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3, the G2 Gen 2 is paired with the FastConnect 7800 module and the optional Qualcomm X61 5G modem, although other features such as the hardware accelerated ray tracing and Lumen support is not available.
The Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 will be put to use in upcoming devices such as the next Retroid Pocket.
Snapdragon G1 Gen 2
Designed for handheld devices that enable basic gaming or streaming, the Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 stands to succeed over the G1 Gen 1 from 2023. Featuring eight Kryo cores in a configuration made up of two performance cores and six efficiency cores, Qualcomm claims an 80% increase in performance compared to the G1 Gen 1. With an Adreno A12 GPU on board, it boasts a 25% performance increase from its predecessor’s A11 GPU.
The Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 comes with a 120Hz refresh rate and can support FHD+ resolution displays. It also carries support for Wi-Fi 5.1 and Bluetooth 5.1, and can optionally be paired with the Snapdragon X61 5G modem. Other features such as the FastConnect 7800, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and Lumen are also not available on this model.
The G1 Gen 2 is set to be present in upcoming devices such as the Retroid Pocket PR Classic.
Why a separate lineup of handheld devices?
To answer the question as to why Qualcomm has dedicated funds and time for an entirely new lineup, rather than just using their mobile processors, the main point that stands out would be the different needs of gaming handheld devices compared to smartphones. Phone-related chipsets often ship with features such as NPUs that would not be as useful in the current handheld gaming landscape, and the cost of their inclusion would ultimately fall upon the user. By providing a new, well-defined lineup, Qualcomm makes sure that different manufacturers can serve the different needs and budgets of their customers.
The Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 is positioned by Qualcomm for exceptional performance that reaches new peaks, along with a focus on sustained performance. Handheld gaming devices are often used for longer sessions than phones are, so the platform is specially designed to compliment their use case. With companies already implementing the new variety of G series SoC, it may be long before we see a new handheld console that can dominate the global market.
