Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 vs. Snapdragon 4 Gen 4: Performance and Benchmark Comparison

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 was released after the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, but it belongs to a lower tier and is noticeably slower. The difference is small in single-threaded Geekbench 6, but increases to roughly one-third in Multi-Core. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 has an even greater advantage in graphics tests.

Both processors are manufactured using Samsung’s 4 nm process and support 5G, LPDDR5, and UFS 3.1. The main differences are the CPU configuration and GPU performance.

Key Differences

* On its official pages, Qualcomm lists only the Adreno name without a numerical index. The Adreno 710 and Adreno 613 designations are used in data from production devices and diagnostic databases.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 has four high-performance Cortex-A78 cores, while the Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 has two. The maximum clock speed differs by only 100 MHz, so the difference in single-threaded workloads is small.

Performance in Real Smartphones

Across the three selected smartphones with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, the average score is about 1003 points in Geekbench 6 Single-Core and 2957 points in Multi-Core. The three models with the Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 average approximately 926 and 2217 points, respectively.

The difference in single-threaded performance is about 8%. In Multi-Core, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3’s advantage increases to approximately 33%.

The average AnTuTu 11 score is about 845,000 versus 597,000 points, meaning the difference reaches approximately 42%. AnTuTu is more heavily influenced by memory, storage, and the smartphone’s software settings, so the variation between devices is greater here than in Geekbench.

GPU: The Biggest Difference Between the Processors

The largest gap is visible in graphics tests.

Production devices with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 use the Adreno 710, while the Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 is identified with the Adreno 613.

The average score of the three Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 models is about 880 points. Smartphones with the Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 score approximately 185-190 points.

The gap is about 4.7 times.

The Adreno 613 is designed for games with a low graphics workload. More demanding titles generally require low settings. The Adreno 710 is noticeably faster and better suited to more demanding games.

Why the Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 Is Slower Despite Being Newer

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 was released later, but it belongs to Qualcomm’s lower-tier series. Both chips use Cortex-A78 and Cortex-A55 cores, but the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 has four high-performance cores instead of two and a significantly faster GPU.

Memory and Storage

Both platforms support LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1, but manufacturers may use slower memory and storage in specific smartphones.

For example, some Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 devices come with LPDDR4X and UFS 2.2. Therefore, an AnTuTu result depends not only on the SoC, but also on the memory, storage, and software of the specific device.

Geekbench 6 more accurately reflects the difference in CPU performance, while AnTuTu evaluates the smartphone as a whole.

Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 or Snapdragon 4 Gen 4

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 is faster in all major tests. Based on the selected production smartphones, the difference is about 8% in Geekbench 6 Single-Core, approximately 33% in Multi-Core, and around 42% in AnTuTu 11.

The GPUs differ particularly significantly. In 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 devices score approximately 860-910 points, while the Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 scores roughly 180-190 points.

The Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 is aimed at budget 5G smartphones. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 is noticeably faster in multithreaded tasks and almost five times faster in Wild Life Extreme.

At a similar price, a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 smartphone offers substantially higher performance, especially in games. The Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 should primarily be considered in significantly cheaper smartphones.