Not Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, Qualcomm introduces high-end SoC Snapdragon 8 Elite with many major improvements

In a surprise move on stage at the Snapdragon Summit today, Qualcomm officially announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite, its next-generation flagship SoC for high-end smartphones.

Qualcomm has changed the naming scheme for its flagship SoCs from “Snapdragon 8 Gen X” to Snapdragon X Elite. This new naming scheme also aligns the Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile chipsets with the Snapdragon X Elite PC chipset series, creating a high degree of consistency across the company’s product portfolio.

And of course, it's not just the name that's new, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a major upgrade over the previous generation, with a host of comprehensive improvements. With this chip, Qualcomm aims to set a new performance standard in the smartphone industry, increasing competitiveness with rival products.

First of all, the Snapdragon 8 Elite will be built on TSMC's 3nm process node for significant performance and power efficiency gains. For the first time, Qualcomm is bringing its own custom ARM Oryon CPU to a smartphone processor. The new Prime and Performance core architecture, which comes with 24MB of cache and can reach 4.32GHz, promises the following performance improvements:

• 45% improvement in single core performance
• 45% improvement in multi-core performance
• 63% improvement in web browsing performance

More specifically, there will be 2 cores running at 4.32 GHz, while 6 smaller cores operate at 3.53 GHz, providing a balance of performance for different tasks. The 24MB of L2 cache will be divided evenly between the Prime and Performance cores.

On the graphics side, the Adreno 830 GPU on the Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers 40% better overall performance and 35% improved ray tracing compared to its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Additionally, when it comes to AI performance using the NPU, the Snapdragon 8 Elite will be a huge step forward. With the industry's fastest Qualcomm Hexagon NPU (6-core vector accelerators and 8-core scalar accelerators), users can expect 45% better AI performance than the NPU in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, as well as advanced graphics technologies like Unreal Engine, Nanite, and Chaos Engine.

In addition to performance improvements, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is also much more power efficient. Qualcomm claims the following power efficiency improvements on the new chip:

• 44% CPU
• 40% GPU
• 45% AI perf/watt
• 27% of total SoC

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is also a perfect solution for premium smartphone camera experiences, with support for 4.3 Gigapixels/second and a 33% improvement in throughput. The processor is also compatible with advanced technologies such as Limitless Segmentation, AI Relighting, AI Pet Suite, Video Magic Eraser, etc.

In terms of connectivity, the Snapdragon 8 Elite comes with the Snapdragon X80 modem - the first 5G modem with 6X carrier aggregation and AI-based mmWave range extension, Qualcomm FastConnect 7900, supporting Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and ultra-wideband in a single 6nm chip.

Several major Android manufacturers, including ASUS, Honor, iQOO, OnePlus, OPPO, RealMe, Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi… are expected to launch smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip in the near future.