Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor allegedly a rebranded Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 from last year

The Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor has stirred controversy as it is rumored to be nothing more than a rebranded version of last year's Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, raising questions about its true identity and Qualcomm's marketing approach.

In an interesting turn of events, after MediaTek's decision to rebrand its processor lineup in 2023, Qualcomm appears to be following suit. The recently-announced Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor has raised eyebrows as it seems to be a discreet rebrand of last year's Snapdragon 6 Gen 1. Surprisingly, they share not only the exact same GPU and CPU core structure but are also manufactured on the same 4nm Samsung process.

Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor allegedly a rebranded Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 from last year

To provide a clear comparison, the table below outlines the key specifications of both the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 and the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 Mobile Processor.

Upon closer examination of the specs, it becomes evident that both processors feature an identical Adreno 710 GPU, the same Qualcomm X62 5G/LTE modem, and support the same connectivity standards, all powered by the Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 system. Additionally, both are built on Samsung's 4nm semiconductor node process. Even the Antutu benchmark scores between the two devices bear a striking resemblance.

The 2023 Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, instead of being categorized as such, could arguably be termed the Snapdragon 6+ Gen 1. This is because the new chipset essentially overclocks the CPU cores of the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, with everything else, from the GPU to connectivity standards like Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, remaining unchanged from the 2022 Snapdragon 6 Gen 1.

Comparing it to the well-regarded Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2, which boasts an Antutu score of 1,109,000, the newly introduced Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, with its Antutu score of around 600,000, appears to be a misleading offering by Qualcomm. It may give the impression that it belongs to the same performance tier as other chipsets in the Snapdragon 7 series lineup, such as the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 and 7+ Gen 2. However, in reality, the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2's performance is on par with a Snapdragon 6 series chip from a previous year.