Qualcomm has once again shaken up the mobile processor landscape with the announcement of its latest flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. This new powerhouse SoC is set to redefine the Android flagship experience, bringing a slew of enhancements and innovations to the table.
A New Champion Emerges
Just a few years after revamping its naming scheme, Qualcomm has adopted the “Elite” moniker from its laptop chips for its new mobile champion. This isn’t just a name change; the Snapdragon 8 Elite boasts a brand-new Oryon CPU, marking a significant departure from the Kryo CPUs of previous generations. This custom-designed CPU features a unique eight-core structure, with two prime cores clocked at a blazing-fast 4.32 GHz and six performance cores running at up to 3.53 GHz. This, combined with an industry-leading 24MB L2 cache and support for 5,300MHz LPDDR5X RAM, ensures unparalleled performance for even the most demanding tasks.
Graphics Get a Boost
The Snapdragon 8 Elite also features a revamped Adreno GPU with a sliced architecture, promising a 40% increase in performance and power savings. This translates to smoother gameplay, richer visuals, and improved ray tracing capabilities. In fact, the 8 Elite is the first mobile SoC to support Unreal Engine 5.3 and its Nanite virtualized geometry system, opening up new possibilities for mobile gaming.
AI Takes Center Stage
Qualcomm has also made significant strides in AI with the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The new Hexagon neural processing unit (NPU) delivers a 45% boost in AI performance, enabling faster and more efficient on-device AI processing. The chip also supports multimodal Gen AI, allowing for more complex and sophisticated AI applications.
Connectivity and Beyond
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is no slouch when it comes to connectivity either. It features the Snapdragon X80 5G modem, capable of peak download speeds of 10 Gbps and upload speeds of 3.5 Gbps. It also supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and Ultra Wideband connectivity, ensuring seamless and lightning-fast connections.
The Future of Android Flagships
With its impressive performance, and focus on AI, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is poised to power the next generation of Android flagships. Expect to see this chip in upcoming devices from leading manufacturers like Honor, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Samsung, vivo, Xiaomi, and others. Unfortunately we won’t get to see this monster on Huawei devices due to the ongoing trade restrictions.
