Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2 vs. Snapdragon 6 Gen 1: Why the Newer Chip Is Slower

The Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2 was released significantly later than the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, but it falls behind it in performance. The Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2 uses Cortex-A73 and Cortex-A53 cores, while the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is built on the newer Cortex-A78 and Cortex-A55 cores. The differences extend beyond the CPU: the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 features a faster Adreno 710 GPU, a 4-nm process, and 5G support.

Key Differences

CPU

The main CPU difference is the Cortex-A73/A53 cores in the Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2 versus the Cortex-A78/A55 cores in the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1.

The Honor X8d with the Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2 scores around 490 points in single-core performance and 1550 in multi-core performance. The Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 reaches approximately 936 and 2796 points, respectively.

Benchmarks in Real Smartphones

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is approximately twice as fast in single-core Geekbench 6 and 75-80% faster in the multi-core test.

AnTuTu 11

The difference is smaller in AnTuTu than in Geekbench, but the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is still approximately 40-45% faster.

GPU

The gap is even larger in graphics tests. The Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2 uses the Adreno 610, while the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 uses the Adreno 710.

In Wild Life, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is approximately 3.7 times faster, while in Wild Life Extreme it is 4.5 times faster.

The Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2 is intended for less demanding games and low graphics settings. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is also not designed for demanding mobile gaming, but the Adreno 710 is significantly faster than the Adreno 610.

Connectivity and Multimedia

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 supports 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, LPDDR5, and video recording at up to 4K HDR at 30 FPS.

The Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2 is limited to LTE, Wi-Fi 5, and LPDDR4X.

Conclusion

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is older in terms of release date, but it is significantly faster than the Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2. In Geekbench 6, it is approximately twice as fast in single-core performance, while in 3DMark the Adreno 710 outperforms the Adreno 610 by several times.

The Snapdragon 6s 4G Gen 2 is used in affordable 4G smartphones such as the Redmi Note 17 4G and Honor X8d, priced at €210-220. If a device with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 costs about the same, it offers a faster CPU, a much more powerful GPU, as well as 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, and LPDDR5.