Qualcomm has revealed the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the flagship SoC that’ll power many 2026 flagship phones – but what’s new compared to the (still fantastic) Snapdragon 8 Elite?
While the 8 Elite Gen 5 builds on the impressive performance and efficiency of the 8 Elite, it also enhances other elements of the smartphone experience, including high-end video capture, efficient connectivity, and, of course, on-device AI capabilities.
Combined, it should offer quite the upgrade over the Snapdragon 8 Elite – here’s how the two compare on paper.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is faster and more efficient
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the newer 8 Elite Gen 5 is faster and more power efficient than the outgoing chipset – there wouldn’t be much of a point in updating it otherwise, would there?
That said, considering last year’s 8 Elite offered such spectacular year-on-year gains compared to its predecessor, it’s impressive to see Qualcomm keeping that momentum with the Gen 5. This year’s flagship chipset boasts a third-gen Oryron CPU architecture that allows it to reach peak clock speeds of 4.6GHz – a notable increase over the 8 Elite’s 4.32GHz.
It’s not just about pure power though; as well as being more powerful, the chipset is more efficient. Qualcomm claims 35% improvements in CPU efficiency and a 16% boost across the entire SoC.
Early benchmarks back up these claims, with around a 26% uptick in single-core and 24% boost in multi-core CPU benchmark tests compared to last year’s 8 Elite.
The 8 Elite Gen 5 should deliver a more consistent gaming experience
It’s a similar story when it comes to graphical power, thanks to the 8 Elite Gen 5’s use of the upgraded 1.2GHz Adreno 840.
Compared to the 8 Elite’s 1.1GHz Adreno 830, Qualcomm claims the new chip can deliver a 23% boost to performance while reducing power consumption by 20%, essentially meaning you’ll be able to play games at higher frame rates while draining less battery power than before.
There’s more to it than that though; the new GPU sports 18MB of High Performance Memory (HPM) to further improve gaming performance, along with support for PC/console-style mesh shading techniques that should improve geometry in demanding mobile games.
Content creators will appreciate the 8 Elite Gen 5’s new video capabilities
Qualcomm has improved the ISP – the brains powering your smartphone’s camera setup – with the 8 Elite Gen 5. It’s now a triple 20-bit ISP, up from triple 18-bit on the Snapdragon 8 Elite, but more importantly, it now uses on-device AI to boost the quality of videos recorded.
Qualcomm describes it as a “fully computational” video pipeline where each frame can essentially be processed like a photo, allowing for both better detail and improved consistency. Importantly, this is all done on-device, with no reliance on cloud processing – a win for privacy.
Then there’s also support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, which enables high-bitrate capture with less artefacting, well-suited for post-production processes like colour grading. It essentially looks to close the gap between phone cameras and “proper” cameras for social and semi-pro content.
You’ll get faster, AI-assisted connectivity with the 8 Elite Gen 5
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 sports Qualcomm’s upgraded X85 modem with faster 5G download speeds (12.5GBps vs 10Gbps) compared to the 8 Elite’s X80 modem. Of course, you won’t see anything close to these speeds in real-world use when connected to 5G, but on a technical level, the modem is more advanced.
It’s not just faster 5G though; this year’s modem utilises what Qualcomm calls an AI-Powered Data Traffic Engine to prioritise certain tasks, be it gaming, calls or transitions between Wi-Fi and cellular networks.
That should translate to a more stable experience when gaming with friends or using cloud gaming over 5G, along with fewer voice or video call dropouts in more congested environments. In fact, Qualcomm claims a 50% reduction in latency when gaming with the new AI-assisted tech.
Elsewhere, both chipsets come with the FastConnect 7900, providing features such as Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and UWB support, although the newer chipset is more power-efficient.
A jump from multimodal to agentic on-device AI
The Snapdragon 8 Elite went all-in on on-device AI with the introduction of multimodal GenAI, featuring a significant 45% NPU boost compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This year, however, it’s all about agentic on-device AI.
Qualcomm is essentially adding support for AI ‘agents’ that can learn your routines, build personal knowledge graphs and take context-aware actions on your behalf – all without relying on the cloud. As with video processing, on-device agentic AI is a big deal, especially when it’ll be handling highly sensitive data.
The company has achieved this by upgrading the Hexagon NPU, resulting in a 37% performance boost, along with improved support for model encryption.
Early thoughts
On paper, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 looks like a solid upgrade over last year’s 8 Elite.
It boasts a faster third-gen Oryon CPU, improved efficiency, and an Adreno 840 that should deliver higher framerates without draining the battery as quickly. Creators are also taken care of, thanks to AI-powered video processing and support for the high-end APV codec. Meanwhile, the X85 modem and AI traffic shaping should significantly reduce latency for gaming and calls.
Throw in support for upgraded on-device ‘agentic’ AI that learns your routines, and you’ve got an exciting chipset for late 2025 and 2026 flagship smartphones.
