Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: Key features you should know about Qualcomm's latest silicon for mobiles

Qualcomm on Friday unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the company’s most powerful silicon for mobiles to date.

The company has bumped the numerical chronology straight from Gen 1 to Gen 5 for the Snapdragon 8 Elite series chipset, promising significant upgrades in terms of Central Processing Unit (GPU), Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Neural Processing Unit (NPU) performance and gaming capabilities in smartphones. 

“It might look like we skipped generations, but the truth is simpler — and more powerful. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 marks the fifth generation of our premium 8-series platforms since we introduced our new single digit naming and visual identity. By aligning with Gen 5, we’re reinforcing its leadership position and simplifying how consumers understand our product roadmap,” said Don McGuireSenior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, Qualcomm.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: Here are key aspects of Qualcomm’s latest chipset

--The new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a 3nm class 64-bit octa-core Oryon silicon. With a record peak clock speed of 4.6 GHz, it promises 20 per cent improvement in performance and 35 per cent better power efficiency. This means, the devices will be able to deliver one hour and 48 minutes of additional gaming playtime on a phone compared to the previous chipset.

It should be noted that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 houses two prime cores with a maximum CPU speed of 4.6GHz and six performance cores that can clock up to 3.62GHz CPU speed to deliver smooth performance.

-- With the latest Adreno GPU, it promises to deliver 23 per cent improved performance, 20 per cent better power efficiency, and 25 per cent improved Ray Tracing to deliver immerssive gaming experience on smartphones

— With Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, it promises 37 per cent faster performance and 16 per cent better performance per watt. Thanks to new powerful NPU, the smartphones will be able to support advanced generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI) such as Agentic AI. 

For the uninitiated, Agentic AI is an autonomous system which can independently takes decisions and complete tasks with minimal human supervision.

-- It comes with new generation Snapdragon Elite Gaming features, including Full Unreal Engine 5 support, which brings console quality visuals and immersive gameplay on mobile device. It also supports Tile Memory Heap, which can intelligently optimise  memory usage and bandwidth. And, with Mesh Shading support, the chipset allows developers to group geometry more efficiently, enabling smarter GPU-driven rendering and power savings on mobile phones.

-- It will enable phones to support real-time Hardware Accelerated Ray Tracing. With Snapdragon Game Super Resolution 2.0, the game's content will appear in higher quality, up to 4K and lower latency (1 m/s) upscaling to deliver the ultimate gaming experience.

-- It houses Qualcomm X85 5G Modem-RF System with 4th generation Qualcomm 5G AI Processor, which promises 30% faster AI inference for more reliable, precise, and efficient 5G connections. This technology allows the phone to support record peak download speeds up to 12.5Gbps, upload speeds up to 3.7Gbps and more spectrum flexibility—all while maintaining astonishing efficiency. Also, it enables phones to support NTN Satellite Communication, which can in handy to users to seek emergency help when there is no cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity in remote locations.

-- It also features Qualcomm FastConnect 7900 Mobile Connectivity System , which offers responsive Wi-Fi 7 at up to 5.8Gbps while supporting various premium features like High-Band Simultaneous (HBS) Multi-Link for greater bandwidth. It promises 40 per cent improved power savings from previous generation  and up to 50 per cent lower gaming latency with AI-enhanced Wi-Fi.

-- With Bluetooth 6.0 support, smartphones with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will be able to have a stable wireless connection with a companion device for up to 300 metres (around 984.5 feet) and up to 3Mbps data transfer speed.

— The new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 supports Qualcomm Expanded Personal Area Network Technology (XPAN), which ensures phone’s wireless connectivity with a paired device is stable across the entire area of the home and building. So, that there is smooth interaction with an AI assistant , be it on an earphone or smart speaker away from the handset. The new chipset also comes also boasts of Qualcomm aptX Lossless Technology, which offers 24-bit, 96kHz lossless wireless music streaming for untethered auditory immersion.

-- The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is touted to be world's first mobile platform to enable phone’s camera to record in Advanced Professional Video (APV). This codec ensures incredible quality high-bitrate footage, just like what comes out of a cinema camera, to enable a professional post-production flow. Further, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is  also the first mobile platform to feature triple 20-bit ISPs that can capture 4x the dynamic range for brilliant photos that showcase more detail, highlights, and shadows.

-- With Qualcomm Fast Charging 5.0 technology, it allows devices to support 100W+ charging speed. It can go from 0 per cent to 50 per cent mark in just five minutes.

Several Android Original Equipment Manufactuers (OEM) including Honor, iQOO, Nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, POCO, Realme, REDMI, RedMagic, ROG, Samsung, Sony, vivo, Xiaomi and ZTE have announced to launch new ultra premium phones with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the coming months and early 2026.

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