Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 CPU1 vs CPU2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy

CPU comparison

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 has 4 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.40 GHz. Up to 8 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 was released in Q3/2016.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.36 GHz. The CPU supports up to 24 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy was released in Q1/2023.
Qualcomm Snapdragon (102) Family Qualcomm Snapdragon (102)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (3) CPU group Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (2)
3 Generation 2
Kryo Architecture Cortex-X3 / -A715 / -A510
Mobile Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 is a 4 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.40 GHz. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy has 8 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 3.36 GHz.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
4 Cores 8
4 Threads 8
hybrid (big.LITTLE) Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.40 GHz
2x Kryo
A-Core 3.36 GHz
1x Cortex-X3
1.60 GHz
2x Kryo
B-Core 2.80 GHz
4x Cortex-A715/A710
-- C-Core 2.00 GHz
3x Cortex-A510

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
Qualcomm AI engine AI hardware Qualcomm AI engine
Hexagon 680 AI specifications Hexagon 780 @ 26 TOPS

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

Qualcomm Adreno 530 GPU Qualcomm Adreno 740
0.62 GHz GPU frequency 0.72 GHz
0.62 GHz GPU (Turbo) --
5 GPU Generation 8
14 nm Technology 4 nm
0 Max. displays 2
-- Compute units --
256 Shader --
No Hardware Raytracing Yes
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 6 GB
11,1 DirectX Version 12.1

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

Qualcomm Adreno 530 GPU Qualcomm Adreno 740
Decode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
Decode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 Decode
No Codec AVC Decode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy can connect up to 24 GB of memory in 4 memory channels.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
LPDDR4-3733 Memory LPDDR5X-8400
8 GB Max. Memory 24 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
14.9 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 67.0 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 has a TDP of --, that of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy is --.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
-- TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 has a 0.00 MB cache, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy cache has a total of 0.00 MB.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Characteristic Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
14 nm Technology 4 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
Armv8-A (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv9-A (64 bit)
-- ISA extensions --
-- Socket --
None Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
Android Operating systems Android, Windows 10/11 (ARM)
Q3/2016 Release date Q1/2023
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 4.4 stars (17 ratings). Rate now:


Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 (21%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 (16%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
341 (22%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
1573 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
864 (17%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
5017 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
370 (19%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
1924 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
752 (15%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
5163 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
Qualcomm Adreno 530 @ 0.62 GHz
476 (26%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
Qualcomm Adreno 740 @ 0.72 GHz
1840 (100%)

AnTuTu 9 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 9 benchmark is very well suited to measuring the performance of a smartphone. AnTuTu 9 is quite heavy on 3D graphics and can now also use the "Metal" graphics interface. In AnTuTu, memory and UX (user experience) are also tested by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu version 9 can compare any ARM CPU running on Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly comparable when benchmarked on different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 9 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The rating is made up of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the working memory, and the performance of the internal graphics.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
1238550 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
1594 (100%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
0 (0%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is given here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher.

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
4C 4T @ 2.40 GHz
0 (0%)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
8C 8T @ 3.36 GHz
26 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
Unknown Unknown

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