Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Official Details
Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the new generation of its flagship mobile platform. This System-on-Chip (SoC) introduces the company's third-generation Oryon CPU cores. Expected performance and power efficiency gains will target the next wave of Android flagship smartphones.
CPU 3rd Generation Oryon Cores
A new configuration of the CPU that is now on the '2 + 6' cluster design along with 3rd gen Oryon architectures.
- CPU Cluster: Two performance cores at 4.60GHz and six efficiency cores at 3.62GHz.
- Performance Claims: Qualcomm claims 20% better performance and 35% better efficiency than the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The full SoC claims to consume 16% less power. These performance claims now need to be verified independently with benchmark results.
- AI Acceleration: The Oryon cores support hardware option for AI acceleration.
- Technical Note: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 does not specifically support the SME2 instruction set.
GPU and Gaming Enhancements
New Adreno 840 GPU noticeable improvements in gaming and graphics-intensive tasks.
- Architecture: It makes use of an 18MB dedicated cache, what Qualcomm calls Adreno High Performance Memory, that brings as much as 10% of power from consumption.
- Clock Speed: The maximum clock speed of the GPU goes from Adreno 830's 1.10GHz to 1.20GHz.
- Performance: The Adreno 840 is rated at a 23% increase in performance, and conversely, at a 20% decrease in power needed to operate.
- Engine Support: It has 'out of the box' support for Unreal Engine 5.
AI & NPU
The next-generation Hexagon NPU is oriented to work with heavier AI workloads directly on the device.
- Speed: 37% faster than the NPU of the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
- Efficiency: Featuring 16% boost in performance-per-watt with new AI accelerators.
Connectivity
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 offers a cellular modem and complete connectivity suite.
- 5G Modem: It incorporates the Snapdragon X85 5G modem with theoretical download speeds reaching up to 12.5Gbps and uplink speeds of 3.7Gbps.
- Wi-Fi & Bluetooth: This uses FastConnect 7900, an integrated solution for Wi-Fi 7 areas, Bluetooth 6.0, and UWB that is more power-efficient, consuming 40% less power than its predecessor.
Camera and Video Features
The chipset's ISP and video capabilities are heavily revamped.
- Video: The SoC provides support for 4K at 120FPS and 1080P slow mo at 480FPS, and whereas you can shoot stills at 320MP.
- Pro Video Codec: It now supports the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, leveling the playing field for Android devices against Apple devices that save ProRes video format on iPhones.
- ISP Upgrade: The ISP upgrade went from 18 to 20 bits, increasing the dynamic range capture ability by four times.
Devices to Come
A host of smartphone manufacturers will implement the new chipset on their forthcoming flagship products. The Xiaomi 17 has already been confirmed to run Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, anticipated to furnish devices in Samsung's Galaxy S26 series.
