The new trio of Qualcomm chips has been developed for handheld gaming machines, right in time to catch the waves as those devices rise in popularity. The first handhelds using Qualcomm's new silicon, which the company showed on GDC 2025, will appear later this month.
Qualcomm released the first of its handheld-intended chips, the Snapdragon G3xFor the premium handhelds back in 2021, and released new versions in the years that followed. Although playing on the phones is still famous, the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck have proven the ability of high-end devices for playing on the go, which puts ways for similar handhelds to grow in a more mainstream niche, from smaller devices Analogue pocket on premium platforms such as Lenovo legion go s.
Qualcomm's three new chips fit the different tiers of gaming devices: the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 for top-end handhelds, the G2 Gen 2 for standard handhelds and the G1 Gen 2 for devices most of the game streams. As with their previous ones, these chips are specifically built for gaming, and are designed for a variety of workloads than phones, PCs or other categories that Qualcomm releases silicon for.
“The thing that really separates the mobile world from the Handheld World is that the handheld is a bespoke gaming device, intended to pick it up and play for a long time,” said Micah Knapp, Snapdragon Gaming Platform Business and Product Lead. “We are really designing the whole platform – the software, the hardware, all around it – to get the functional climax but then it will also maintain it for a long time.”
Qualcomm announces three chips on GDC 2025: G3 Gen 3 means for top-end devices, G2 Gen 2 for mid-grade handhelds and the G1 Gen 2 for handhelds most of the game streams.
At the top of its new lineup, Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 has 30% better CPU and 28% better GPU performance (Adreno A32) compared to this 2023 predecessor.
Qualcomm confirms three devices that include the G3 Gen 3 chip. The Ayaneo Pocket S2, a smooth rectangular device with a 6.3-inch display, will arrive in March. The larger Ayaneo gaming pad, with a large handgrip like a controller and an 8.3-inch 120Hz display, is available in May. Finally, Onexplayer Onexsugar 1, the first Android gaming device with dual screens on one at the top of the other (the top can be able to black), will also come in May.
Snapdragon G2 Gen 2, which has 2.3 times better CPU and 3.8 times better GPU (Adreno A22) performance in its 2023 predecessor. It also supports the Top Quad HD Plus showing that there is a 144Hz refresh rate and the same fastconnect 7800 chip connection with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3.
This chip is for more affordable -handhelds not too much at Lenovo Legion Go So Asus rog ally xBut not as expensive as they are, either. While Qualcomm did not name the specific device, the manufacturer of the handheld maker retroid pocket would have a device announced in “a very short time” operating G2 Gen 2.
Finally, the Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 is intended for devices that can play, but they are likely to be able to stabilize them with cloud services such as Xbox Game Pass and GeForce today. Its CPU has 80% better and the GPU (Adreno A12) has a 12% better performance than the 2023 chip predecessor.
The retroid Pocket PR Classic runs Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 Chip.
Qualcomm's G-series power the expansion of handhelds
The three chips of Qualcomm are intended for different devices with different capabilities and are sold at different prices – and they will come at a fine time. Gaming gaming is satisfied with a new era with wild diverse designs, formats and goals, from cheap pocket-sized devices ordered from online marketplaces to high-end devices such as wedge-sized 8-inches and 11-inch Acer Nitro Blaze launched in CES.
It's safe to say that the diverse handheld gaming devices-some of which look like Shrunken Nintendo Game Boys, some of which follow the Nintendo Switch's central-screen layout layout-Android phones are not just cheap, and not for some time. Accordingly, Qualcomm's G-series G-Series G-Series needs for longer high-performance game sessions, rather than shorter, repeated gaming sessions when playing on phones.
That said, Qualcomm's handheld gaming and mobile chips share some DNA, as all three of the company's new chips are intended to empower Android -based devices. However they also use Kryo CPUs, older designs than oryon CPUs who have dedicated to the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile and SNAPDRAGON X ELITE PC chips, which boast the increase in AI's performance and capabilities. The company has justified it by saying that KRI CPUs are suitable for the power of the many devices that handheld manufacturers release on a faster basis, at least for now.
“Can Oralon help here? Absolutely. And do we look at it in the future? Absolutely,” Knapp said.
While there are many different types of handhelds that operate their own bespoke operating systems, from small outfits to steam deck that run vapors – and even windows. But Qualcomm chips focus on Android -operating power devices, which the company says will benefit the portability of a game that runs on different platforms, such as phones and cars (both of which qualified chips are for). It also provides easy access to many games in the Google Play Store.
But there is an increase in the overlap between Android windows and space because it is easier to sport software from one or the other. Knapp pointed to the Epic Games, which made the Unreal Engine and made the process quickly it could “have a PC game and hit a button and it was running on Android the same day,” he said. While developers are struggling to transfer their game to a touch interface for Android-running devices, handhelds are a great opportunity considering their gamepads and buttons easier to port.
“I think this new form of handheld form and the gamepad is really going to speed up more PC games moving to Android,” said Dave Durnil, head of playing with Qualcomm technologies. “Over time we will begin to see [PC games] Show perhaps even faster on mobile devices because of the beautiful bridge that the handheld provides from PC to Android. “
