At Gamescom 2023 , Qualcomm invited me to give its raw Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 Reference Design a crack . The mathematical product demo was interesting but it ’s what the future contain for Qualcomm ’s newly herald mobile gambling micro chip that show upPlayStation ’s Portal .
The timing of Qualcomm ’s reveal of its novel fluid gaming chips – the G3x Gen 2 , G2 Gen 1 and G1 Gen 1 – really could n’t have come at a worse meter for PlayStation .
Qualcomm ’s announcement present a nidus on consumer selection that thePortalaggressively shuns with its Bluetooth cold shoulder and rather high Mary Leontyne Price . The flagship G3x Gen 2 silicon chip is what sits within the Reference Design that manufacturers can see as a proof of construct for them to then build upon – and I was forthwith think about the possibilities .
My time with Qualcomm was part briefing and part demonstration , led by Mithun Chandrasekhar , senior director of product management , Qualcomm Technologies , Inc. , and while I was struck by the lightweight gimmick itself , it was the expanding upon of the Snapdragon gaming compass that really grabbed me . Ayaneo , Huaqin , Inventec , and Thundercomm have already confirm they are onboard to play with Qualcomm on these machines .
I wo n’t be commenting too much on performance here as it was a fleet demonstration and , when it come to how buttons feel and the like , this will be different when it come to manufacturers getting their equipment out .
I also get to assay XR glass used in connection with the handheld , open up a 50 - column inch video display in front of my eyes , which added that extra spirit level of immersion . My whole experience ran smoothly for the small routine of apps on show , so it ’ll come down to our full examination of a manufacturer gimmick to really put Snapdragon ’s new mobile gaming french fries through their pace .
The G1 silicon chip is intended to accommodate fanless , streaming - pore gaming simple machine and put up long electric battery life , placing it as a more open rival to the PlayStation Portal . The G2 is being positioned as the middle child , unlocking muscular mobile gaming as well as stream .
Then , there ’s the flagship G3 , as the enthusiast level . Qualcomm touts 2x gaming carrying out when compared with the G3x Gen 1 we saw on theRazer Edge 5Gand put on modernistic feature like hardware - accelerated ray trace , XR glass tethering , low - latency Bluetooth andWi - Fi 7as well as 5 G sub-6 and mmWave .
But , you ’re probably mean what I ’m thinking – what ’s all the horsepower perish to do on Android ?
Currently , the experience remains the same but Qualcomm says it ’s working on what it calls Android+ – its in - firm experimentation with other operating system options . Qualcomm is also acute to place out that the chip is compatible with DirectX 12 . As such , my Bob Hope is , of course , that there ’s a future where Qualcomm ’s devices patronize AAA play , in a standardised fashion to theSteam Deck , but we ’re not there yet .
I was also handle to another concept gadget , a atomic number 6 fibre version of the Reference Design . The Reference Design already impressed me with its weight but the atomic number 6 fiber felt so good , and Qualcomm accent that using this material should enable them to slim down the design even further in the futurity . Exciting clobber .
Ultimately , Qualcomm seems ahead of the game here , with a ambit of devices likely to stanch from this new generation of play chips that do n’t fully take vantage of the underlying computer hardware but , whether its G1 - sporting devices likely being more fully - featured than the PlayStation Portal or the more powerful twist put up excellent Android gaming performance along with fleet cyclosis , a new world of hand-held gaming possibilities has just been unleashed .
