Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 SoC for laptops and Chromebooks

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 SoC for entry-level laptops and Chromebooks follows the steps of the Snapdragon 7c processor with a slightly higher frequency for the Kryo 468 cores, leading to a 6% performance improvements.

As we’ll see below, most of the specifications are exactly the same, except the built-in Snapdragon X15 LTE modem is now listed as supporting LTE Cat 14 up to 600 Mbps, instead of LTE Cat 15 up to 800 Mbps, and UFS downgraded to UFS 2.1 from UFS 3.0.

Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 specifications:

CPU – Octa-core Kryo 468 (Cortex-A76) processor up to 2.55 GHz
GPU – Unnamed Qualcomm Adreno GPU (Note: Snapdragon 7c had Qualcomm Adreno 618 GPU)
DSP – Qualcomm Hexagon 692 DSP
Memory – 2x 16-bit LPDDR4x-4266
Storage – eMMC 5.1, UFS 2.1
Display
- On-device display up to QXGA (2048 x 1536) @ 60 Hz
- External display up to QHD (2560×1440) @ 60 Hz
Video Playback – Up to 4K HDR10 with H.265 (HEVC), H.264 (AVC), VP9 codecs
Camera
- Image Signal Processor: Qualcomm Spectra 255 ISP, 14-bit
- 4x MIPI CSI PHYs (DPHY 1.2 / CPHY 1.2)
- Dual Camera, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 16 MP
- Single Camera, ZSL, 30fps: Up to 32 MP
- Camera Features
  - Multi-Frame Noise Reduction (MFNR) and Multi-Frame Super Resolution (MFSR)
  - Forward-looking Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS)
  - Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering (MCTF) for noise-free video capture up to UHD (4K) at 30 FPS
- Video Capture Features: Rec. 2020 color gamut video capture, Up to 10-bit color depth video capture
Audio
- Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec, Qualcomm Aqstic smart speaker amplifier
- Qualcomm aptX, aptX HD audio playback support
- PCM playback up to 384kHz/32bit
- Native DSD support
Connectivity
- Snapdragon X15 LTE modem
  - LTE Category – Downlink: Cat 12, uplink: Cat 13
  - Downlink
    - 3×20 MHz carrier aggregation
    - LTE MIMO: Up to 4×4 MIMO on two carriers
    - QAM: Up to 256-QAM, Up to 64-QAM
    - 600 Mbps max
  - Uplink
    - Snapdragon Upload+
    - 2×20 MHz carrier aggregation
    - Up to 64-QAM
- Wi-Fi
  - Dual-band 802.11ac Wave 2 WiFi 5, 802.11a/b/g, 802.11n
  - Qualcomm FastConnect Subsystem
  - MIMO Configuration: 2×2 (2-stream)
- Bluetooth 5.0
- GPS Location – Satellite Systems Support: NavIC, BeiDou,
  Galileo, GLONASS, GPS, QZSS, SBAS
Security
- Qualcomm Processor Security
- Qualcomm Content Protection
- Wi-Fi Security: WPA3
Process Technology – 8 nm

Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 supports both Windows 10 & ChromeOS. It feels more like a relaunch with potentially some cost-cutting measures rather an upgrade to Snapdragon 7c.

Qualcomm still says the Gen 2 compute platforms deliver up to 10% higher system performance than competitive platforms with up to 19+ hours of continuous use on a single charge is up to 2x the battery life of typical entry-tier laptops, compared to Intel-based laptops.

The first Windows 10 Arm laptops and Chromebooks are expected later this summer. More details may be found on the product page.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.