Not Elite, Qualcomm’s latest chip intends to bring power to as many people as possible

The last Snapdragon Summit, an annual event organized by Qualcomm, was the scene of announcements dedicated to the world of computing, but also telephony. The American thus unveiled the chip last September Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5a mobile SoC that we are starting to see appear in commercially available smartphones – this is the case of OnePlus 15but also the Realme GT 8 Pro, and the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max with two screens operates it in China. This chipset dedicated to premium terminals succeeds the Snapdragon 8 Elite, new terminology inaugurated a year earlier, and is intended to be synonymous with power as well as artificial intelligence on-device. But it does not arrive alone: ​​Qualcomm lifted the veil at the same time on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, the operation of which it had refrained from detailing.

Premium at a lower cost

OnePlus is getting the scoop on the chip, the brand having just announced the integration of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 into its 15R model, of which little is known at the moment (it benefits from IP66 to IP69K certifications), its full presentation being planned in a few weeks. Qualcomm confirms for its part that the manufacturer will not be the only one to use the chip, since it mentions brands such as Vivo, Motorola, Honor, but also Meizu and iQOO. And takes stock of the architecture of this latest addition to the Snapdragon family, which he describes “premium level”.

Also engraved in 3 nm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 appears as a softened version of its Elite counterpart, and as the successor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 of 2023. There we find Oryon CPU cores, whose clock frequency is limited to 3.8 GHz, compared to 4.6 GHz for the Elite chip; it is this raw power that constitutes the main difference between the two chipsetsand which allows Qualcomm to mention CPU performance up 36% compared to 8 Gen 3, while energy efficiency is announced 42% better, just as the performance of the NPU (Neural Processing Unit) is noted up 46%.

The chip focuses on supporting agentic AIs with operation on-devicewhich constitutes its biggest novelty, compared at least to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. For the rest, the 8 Gen 5 ranks more or less at the level of the 8 Gen 5 Elite, with the same ultra-defined screens supported, compatibility with cameras up to 320 megapixels (!), and support for wifi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0. We note that its X80 modem is synonymous with slightly lower theoretical speeds than the X85 of the 8 Gen 5 Elite, but beyond this element, the chips are similar. Suffice it to say that we can’t wait to experience it in high-end smartphones, but at a price that is certainly below €1000.