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What you need to know
- Qualcomm is reportedly shipping new XR2 and XR2+ Gen 3 chips to VR HMDs.
- These Project Matrix chips are said to support 16GB of RAM, UFS 4.0 storage, and 4K displays, and may use Oryon CPUs.
- The Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 was announced in early January and has yet to appear in consumer products.
Qualcomm has reportedly begun testing and testing its Snapdragon XR2 Gen 3 and XR2+ Gen 3 chips designed for the next generation of VR headsets. This leaked news surprised us, given that a Gen 2 chip has yet to make its way into the hands of consumers.
WinFuture’s Roland Quandt first posted on X about Project Matrix, the company’s “next-generation AR/VR chips,” on May 17. Specifically, he explained how the higher-end SXR2350 will support 16GB of RAM, UFS 4.0 storage, and 4K displays.
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Recently, VR analyst Brad Lynch shared a leaked cargo manifest showing that Qualcomm is shipping the SXR2350 chip — likely called the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 3 — for “testing and integration into future HMDs.”
Lynch speculates that it will be “nearly identical” to the XR2+ Gen 2 in terms of features and bandwidth, but will use the Oryon CPU found in the Snapdragon X Elite instead of Arm Cortex cores, plus a more efficient GPU energy.
Qualcomm is “shipping these much faster than the gap between Gen 1 and Gen 2,” Lynch points out in the same thread, arguing that “there has to be (a) huge demand for something better” than the XR2+ Gen 2.
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My personal speculations* on the changes we will see in this chip (probably next year):- Orion CPU cores (biggest change)- More power efficient GPU with similar graphics performance as XR2 Gen 2- almost identical XR features/bandwidth as XR2 Gen 2May 21, 2024
Meta Quest Pro used XR2+ Gen 1, while Meta Quest 3 uses XR2 Gen 2, which gives it strong gaming performance. The XR2 Gen 3 (without the “+”) would theoretically target the Quest 4, but that’s not expected to arrive for years.
Qualcomm only announced the improved Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 in January 2024, with Samsung, Sony and HTC Vive committing to using this chip in future more power-hungry productivity headsets. So far, none of them have been sent.
Qualcomm says that the XR2+ Gen 2 can support 4.3K resolution per eye, 12 simultaneous cameras, and 15% and 20% increases in GPU and CPU frequency, respectively, over the XR2 Gen 2. It’s certainly an improvement, but not a change drastically in power. XR2+ Gen 3 could change it.
Early testing or a quick change?
Many leakers agree that the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 3 is coming. The question is, why so soon after the announcement of the XR2+ Gen 2?
The power of this new chip makes it suitable for productivity headsets like the Meta Quest Pro 2, with its rumored 3,840 x 3,840 resolution – but LG has reportedly delayed it until 2027. Other Meta Horizon OS headsets can use it, such as Lenovo’s XR productivity headset. But even this may not arrive for some time.
Currently, devices like Samsung’s XR 2024 headset and Sony’s XR space headset are slated to use the XR2+ Gen 2. So why send the XR2+ Gen 3 to HMD if they’re still finalizing their Gen 2 headset?
I can only think of two possibilities: (A) Samsung and Co. asked for a more powerful chip and will ultimately skip Gen 2, or (B) Qualcomm itself wants to convince these brands to try its newer, better technology now that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will use Oryon later this year.
The Apple Vision Pro used an M2 chip found in MacBooks, making it hard for other productivity headsets to compete. Charging a laptop-level price for productivity headsets with Snapdragon XR2 chips — essentially redesigned versions of the cellular chips found in Android phones — is a big ask for consumers.
If the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 3 has Snapdragon X Elite-quality performance with better RAM, then perhaps Samsung would delay its headset to 2025 to see a better chance of success. We’ll have to wait and see if the XR2+ Gen 2 actually sees the light of day or not, if Gen 3 has replaced it.
#Qualcomm #pushing #XR2 #chips #faster #headsets
Image Source : www.androidcentral.com
