The latest Nothing Phone (4a) Pro packs the mid-range Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset, yet it comes with a premium price tag. Meanwhile, the Nothing Phone (3) which costs almost the same, features the 8-series Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor. So to settle the debate, we decided to test and compare the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 and Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 on AnTuTu, Geekbench, 3DMark, etc. and find out whether they match up. On that note, let's check out our findings.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Snapdragon 7 Gen 4: AnTuTu Score
| AnTuTu Benchmark | Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu Score | 2,104,905 | 1,077,092 |
| CPU | 483,422 | 306,232 |
| GPU | 891,935 | 327,665 |
| Memory | 388,619 | 213,580 |
| UX | 340,929 | 229,615 |
Let's start with the AnTuTu comparison between the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 and Snapdragon 7 Gen 4. In our test run, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 scored 2,104,905 points on the AnTuTu benchmark while the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 achieved a measly 1,077,092 points. In effect, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is almost 2x faster than the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4.
In terms of the CPU performance, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 leads by 58% and the 8-series GPU delivers nearly 3x faster performance. Overall, based on AnTuTu numbers alone, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 looks decidedly weak and can't match the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 in any area.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Snapdragon 7 Gen 4: Geekbench Score
| Geekbench 6 CPU | Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-core | 2,158 | 1,208 |
| Multi-core | 6,989 | 3,464 |
Next, in the Geekbench test which purely evaluates the CPU performance, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 scored 2,158 in single-core test and 6,989 in multi-core tests. On the other hand, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 achieved 1,208 in single-core and 3,464 in multi-core. Again, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is around 78% faster in single-core tasks and 2x faster in multi-core workloads.
While on paper both have an 8-core CPU, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 features a large Cortex-X4 core which goes up to 3.2GHz. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 4, on the other hand, packs the mid-tier Cortex-A720 cores, of which only one core reaches 2.8GHz, and the rest of the cores operate at 2.4GHz. To put it simply, there is no comparison between the two processors when it comes to CPU performance.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Snapdragon 7 Gen 4: CPU Throttling Test
| CPU Throttling Test | Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum Score | 549,579 GIPS | 388,446 GIPS |
| Average Score | 485,827 GIPS | 369,023 GIPS |
| Minimum Score | 414,382 GIPS | 341,055 GIPS |
| Throttling Percentage (Higher is better) | 80% | 93% |
Next, to test CPU stability under extreme load, we ran the 15-minute CPU Throttling Test on both chipsets. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 throttled to 80% of its maximum performance while the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 throttled to 93%. Sure, the 7 Gen 4 is thermally more stable, but it delivers performance nowhere near the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. For light and medium tasks, the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 may offer good and efficient performance, but the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 can handle heavy tasks as well.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Snapdragon 7 Gen 4: 3DMark Score
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test | Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Best Loop Score | 2,845 | 1,807 |
| Lowest Loop Score | 2,180 | 1,793 |
| Stability | 76.6% | 99.2% |
Coming to the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress test which evaluates the GPU performance, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 achieved the best loop score of 2,845 and the lowest loop score of 2,180 with stability of 76.6%. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 did really well in stability, sitting at 99.2%, however, it achieved the best score of 1,807 and the lowest score of 1,793.
Just like the CPU, the Adreno 722 GPU on the 7 Gen 4 is thermally stable, but again, you will not get powerful graphics performance like the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. The 8s Gen 4 has an 8-series Adreno 825 GPU which comes with ray tracing support, something that the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 completely lacks.
| 3DMark Steel Nomad Light | Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 1,030 | 672 |
| Average FPS | 7.64 FPS | 4.98 FPS |
And in the demanding 3DMark Steel Nomad Light test, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 scored 1,030 points with 7.64 FPS while the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 achieved 672 points only with 4.98 FPS. In terms of graphics performance, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is around 53% faster than the 7 Gen 4.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Snapdragon 7 Gen 4: Speedometer 3.0 Score
Finally, in the Speedometer 3.0 benchmark, which evaluates web browsing performance, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 scored 12.5 points while the 7 Gen 4 achieved 11.8. Thankfully, the latter did a good job and came at a striking distance of the 8s Gen 4, but still for rendering heavy web pages, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is still a superior choice.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Snapdragon 7 Gen 4: Benchmark Gallery
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Snapdragon 7 Gen 4: Specs Comparison
| Specs | Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Process Node | TSMC’s 4nm | TSMC’s 4nm (N4) |
| CPU | 8-core Kryo CPU | 8-core Arm Cortex CPU |
| CPU Cores | 1x Cortex-X4 (3.2GHz), 3x Cortex-A720 (3.0GHz), 2x Cortex-A720 (2.8GHz), 2x Cortex-A720 (2.0GHz) | 1x 2.8 GHz (Cortex-A720), 4x 2.4GHz (Cortex-A720), 3x 1.8 GHz (Cortex-A520) |
| GPU | Adreno 825 GPU | Adreno 722 |
| Storage and Memory | UFS 4.0, LPDDR5X memory, up to 4800MHz | UFS 4.0, LPDDR5X up to 4.2 GHz |
| NPU | New Hexagon AI Engine, On-device multimodal AI support | Qualcomm Hexagon NPU |
| ISP | 18-bit Triple AI Spectra ISP, Up to 320MP photo capture, 4K HDR video at 60 FPS | Qualcomm Spectra Triple ISP 12-bit |
| Modem | Snapdragon 5G modem (Sub-6 GHz only), Up to 4.2 Gbps Peak Download | Snapdragon 5G Modem-RF |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 and UWB | Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 |
Verdict
To conclude, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is a powerful chipset when compared against the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4. I am tempted to say that the performance difference is night and day between the two processors. In the CPU department, the 8s Gen 4 is around 60-70% faster depending on which benchmark you look at. And in the graphics front too, the performance gap is just too big. I would say the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is in a league of its own, and the mid-tier Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 can't touch it.
