Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 is only a minor upgrade of its predecessor

Qualcomm unveiled a new low-end Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chip last week, and first impressions suggested it was just a slightly improved Snapdragon 695, which never proved to be an overly good chip in its lifetime. Now Qualcomm has also confirmed that it is only a minor upgrade and not a completely new design.

The Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 has a near-identical number to the now-obsolete Snapdragon 695 (SM6375-AC vs. SM6375) as well as the same TSMC 6nm manufacturing process, but the similarities don't end there. The two chipsets share the same processor setup, GPU, modem, camera capabilities, and wireless module.

Analysts have already noted that the new chip only has coiled cores compared to the Snapdragon 695, and Qualcomm has now confirmed that they have also done the same with the graphics cores and the NPU chip that takes care of the artificial intelligence functions. What this means for the overheating of the chip is not clear, but we can assume that the new chip will be slightly hotter than its predecessor.

Overall, though, we're not impressed with the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3. Qualcomm makes great chips and they are rightfully considered the best in the phone market. This also applies to chips that are not intended for premium phones, such as Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. At the lower end, however, it's clear that they haven't found a winning combination yet. We've always overpriced the Snapdragon 695 in our tests, especially when manufacturers put them in €400 phones.

We will wait for the final opinion until we get our hands on the new chip, which may happen in the next few months.