Highlights
- Qualcomm unveils the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.
- It features the Qualcomm Oryon CPU, Adreno GPU, and Hexagon NPU.
- It also has an enhanced GPU for gamers, a new AI-powered ISP, a Snapdragon X80 5G modem and Qualcomm’s FastConnect 7900.
Qualcomm has officially unveiled its flagship mobile chipset Snapdragon 8 Elite at the recent Snapdragon Summit.
The company also announced that its flagship mobile platforms are now adopting the Elite name.
This move aligns with the ARM-based X Elite chips that are currently used in high-end laptops.
The next generation of mobile experiences is here. #Snapdragon 8 Elite features the fastest mobile CPU in the world thanks to the @Qualcomm Oryon CPU, paired with the most powerful on-device #AI ever for a smartphone. pic.twitter.com/OwLlB7oNM4
— Snapdragon (@Snapdragon) October 21, 2024
Claimed to be “the most powerful and world’s fastest mobile system-on-a-chip ever,” Snapdragon 8 Elite is built on the second generation custom-built Qualcomm Oryon CPU, Qualcomm Adreno GPU and enhanced Qualcomm Hexagon NPU.
The chipset is designed for next-generation smartphones that will have on-device multi-modal generative AI applications.
According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Elite will also enhance advanced camera capabilities with AI-ISP, gaming performance and enable faster web browsing.
The American chip maker also informed that ASUS, Honor, iQOO, OnePlus, OPPO, RealMe, Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi and more such smartphone manufacturers will be releasing Snapdragon 8 Elite devices in the coming months.
Some of the first smartphones to receive the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC include the upcoming OnePlus 13, Xiaomi 15, Honor Magic 7 Pro and Realme GT 7 Pro.
Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handsets at Qualcomm Technologies Inc said, “We are so excited to bring the power of Qualcomm Oryon to our Snapdragon mobile platforms for the first time. Earlier this year we debuted it in PCs, delivering remarkable experiences and unparalleled battery life to PC users, energizing the industry and getting the attention of consumers. Today, our second generation of the Qualcomm Oryon CPU debuts in our flagship Mobile Platform – it’s a major leap forward and we expect consumers to be thrilled with the new experiences enabled by our CPU technology.”
“With leading CPU, GPU and NPU capabilities, the Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers dramatic performance enhancements and power efficiency 3. In addition, it revolutionises mobile experiences by offering personalised, multi-modal generative AI directly on the device enabling the understanding of speech, context, and images to enhance everything from productivity to creativity tasks while prioritising user privacy, ” Patrick added.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new chipset.
Snapdragon 8 Elite – All-Big Core Design and Memory
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is Qualcomm’s first smartphone chip to feature an all-big core setup.
This eight-core processor is equipped with two prime cores clocked at an impressive 4.32 GHz, and six performance cores that go up to 3.53 GHz, making it ideal for power-intensive tasks.
With a 24MB L2 cache and support for ultra-fast 5,300MHz LPDDR5X RAM, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is built to handle demanding applications efficiently.
It is made using TSMC’s cutting-edge 3nm process, which results in significant performance improvements.
Qualcomm claims a 45% boost in CPU performance and 44% better power efficiency compared to its predecessor.
Snapdragon 8 Elite – Design for Gamers With Upgraded Adreno GPU
The Snapdragon 8 Elite comes with a revamped Adreno GPU offering a 40% increase in both performance and power efficiency.
Moreover, ray tracing performance is 35% faster, providing smoother graphics and more immersive gaming experiences.
Gamers can expect up to 2.5 extra hours of playtime.
It’s also the first Qualcomm chip to support Unreal Engine 5.3 and its advanced Nanite virtualized geometry system bringing console-level graphics to smartphones.
Snapdragon 8 Elite – AI Enhancements with Hexagon NPU
Qualcomm has again maintained that AI continues to be a main feature of all Qualcomm’s chips. The Snapdragon 8 Elite comes with a new Hexagon neural processing unit (NPU) that offers a 45% boost in AI processing speed while maintaining energy efficiency.
Qualcomm’s AI Engine also supports Gen AI allowing the chip to handle both large and small AI models.
It will give developers more flexibility for incorporating AI-driven features.
Snapdragon 8 Elite – Smarter Mobile Photography
The new Snapdragon 8 Elite also introduces a new AI-powered Image Signal Processor (ISP) replacing the older Spectra ISP for photography.
The AI ISP works with the Hexagon NPU to analyze raw camera data, allowing real-time AI adjustments at 4K/60fps. It also supports advanced photo and video editing features like semantic segmentation and video object erasing.
The new ISP can process up to 4.3 gigapixels per second, compared to the previous generation’s 3.2 gigapixels, enabling features like simultaneous recording from three 48MP cameras, real-time adjustments for skin and sky and real-time video re-lighting.
Moreover, it supports up to a single 108MP camera at 30fps or a 320MP snapshot.
Snapdragon 8 Elite – Next-Level Connectivity
For connectivity, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is equipped with the Snapdragon X80 5G modem. It is the first to support 6x downlink carrier aggregation and AI-assisted mmWave range extension. We can expect peak download speeds of up to 10 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 3.5 Gbps.
The modem is paired with Qualcomm’s FastConnect 7900 Mobile Connectivity System, which combines Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and the industry’s first Ultra Wideband (UWB) into a single 6nm chip.
It supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and UWB, ensuring fast and reliable wireless connections across the board.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 – A Quick Comparison
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | |
| Process Node | TSMC’s 3nm process (N3E) | TSMC’s 4nm process (N4P) |
| CPU | Octa-core2nd-gen Oryon CPU | Octa-coreKryo CPU |
| CPU Cores | 2x 2nd-gen Oryon (4.32GHz)6x 2nd-gen Oryon (3.53GHz) | 1x 3.3GHz (Cortex-X4)3x 3.2GHz (Cortex-A720)2x 3.0GHz (Cortex-A720)2x 2.3GHz (Cortex-A520) |
| GPU | Adreno 830 GPU | Adreno 750 GPU |
| Storage/ Memory Support | UFS 4.0LPDDR5X at 5.3GHz10.7 Gbps | UFS 4.0LPDDR5X at 4.8GHz |
| Machine Learning and AI | New Hexagon AI EngineOn-device multimodal AI support | Hexagon AI Engine |
| ISP | AI Spectra ISPUp to 320MP photo capture8K HDR video at 60 FPS | Cognitive Spectra ISPUp to 200MP photo capture8K HDR video at 30 FPS |
| Modem | Snapdragon X80 5G modemUp to 10 Gbps Peak DownloadUp to 3.5 Gbps Peak Upload | Snapdragon X75 5G modemUp to 10 Gbps Peak DownloadUp to 3.5 Gbps Peak Upload |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 and UWB | Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite (SM8750-AB) Specifications
2 x Oryon Prime CPU at up to 4.32GHz, 6 x Oryon Performance CPUs at up to 3.53GHz 3nm Process Technology Built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon X80 5G modem-RF system
5G speeds of up to 10 Gbps down, mmWave: 8 carriers, 2×2 MIMO, Sub-6 GHz: 4×6 MIMO, Converged mmWave-sub-6 transceiver, Qualcomm 5G AI Suite Gen 3 includes: AI-enhanced performance improvements in power handling, coverage, latency, & QoS, AI-assisted mmWave beam management–mmWave (SA) range extension for CPE, AI-based GNSS Location Gen 3, Qualcomm 5G AI Processor Gen 2 with dedicated tensor hardware accelerator, Qualcomm 5G PowerSave Gen 5, Fully integrated NB-NTN support, Qualcomm Smart Transmit Gen 5 technology with Snapdragon Satellite support, Qualcomm Wideband Envelope Tracking, 5G New Calling support, Qualcomm Power RF Efficiency Suite, Qualcomm® 5G Ultra-Low Latency Suite, Qualcomm(R) RF Uplink Optimization, Global 5G multi-SIM, including Qualcomm DSDA Gen 2.
Qualcomm Adreno next-gen GPU, Real-time Hardware-Accelerated Ray Tracing with Global Illumination, Support for Unreal Engine 5.3 running Nanite on smartphones, Support for Unreal Engine Chaos Physics Engine, Snapdragon Adaptive Game Configuration, Snapdragon Game Super Resolution, Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.1, Snapdragon Game Post Processing Accelerator, HDR gaming (10-bit color depth, Rec. 2020 color gamut), Snapdragon Shadow Denoiser, API support: OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 3.0 FP, Vulkan 1.3
Hardware-accelerated H.265, VP9, AV1 decoder, HDR Playback Codec support for HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision Up to 48MP triple camera, Up to 108 MP single camera with ZSL, Up to 320MP single camera, Qualcomm Spectra Image Sensor Processor (AI ISP, 18-bit triple-ISP)
Limitless real-time Semantic Segmentation photo and video processing, Engine for Visual Analytics 4.0, including hardware acceleration for iToF depth sensors up to 4K 60 FPS, Support for the latest HDR, DCG+VS, DCG, Staggered, QDOL, Less Blanking, and Multiframe HDR image sensors
Rec. 2020 color gamut photo and video capture, Up to 10-bit color depth photo and video capture 10-bit HEIF: HEIC photo capture, HEVC video capture, Google Ultra HDR photo capture
Capture Formats: HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision, 8K HDR video playback @ 60 FPS, 4K video capture @ 120 FPS, Slow-mo video capture at 1080p @ 480 FPS, Hardware Bokeh Engine 2 for video capture, Pro Sight video capture, Ultra-low light video capture with AI Noise Reduction in 4K60 FPS, Computational HDR video capture: Up to 4 exposures (with QDOL image sensors), Video super resolution, Massive Multi-Frame Noise Reduction with AI, Locally Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering – Enhanced AI video segmentation @ 4K60 FPS, Realtime AI skin and sky tone adjustments in 4K60 FPS, Truepic photo capture with C2PA-compliant certificate authority.
On-Device Display Support: 4K at 60 Hz / QHD+ at 240 Hz, Maximum External Display Support: up to 8K @ 30 Hz, Up to 1080 @ 240 Hz, Variable Refresh Rate support for 240 Hz to 1 Hz, 10-bit color depth, Rec. 2020 color gamut, HDR10, HDR10+, HDR vivid, and Dolby Vision
Qualcomm Hexagon Processor, Fused AI accelerator architecture, Hexagon scalar, vector, and tensor accelerators, Hexagon Direct Link, Micro Tile Inferencing, Large shared memory concurrency support, Upgraded power delivery system, Support for mix precision (INT8+INT16), Support for all precisions (INT4, INT8, INT16, FP16).
Support for LP-DDR5x memory up to 5300 MHz, Memory Density: Up to 24 GB
Wi-Fi 7 Peak speed: 5.8 Gbps, Wi-Fi 7 802.11be, 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), Multi-gigabit, Integrated 802.11ac 2×2 (2-stream) MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 6.0, LE Audio, Integrated Ultra Wideband (UWB)
Snapdragon Sound Technology Suite: Qualcomm aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless audio, Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec, Qualcomm Aqstic smart speaker amplifier: Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise (THD+N) Playback: -108 dB
Concurrent GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC, Triple frequency GNSS (L1/L2C/L5), AI-based GNSS Location Gen 3
USB Version 3.1 Gen 2, USB Type-C Support, UFS 4.0
Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 technology
FAQs
Q1. What is the new name for Qualcomm’s flagship mobile platforms?
Answer. Qualcomm’s flagship mobile platforms are now adopting the Elite name, aligning with the ARM-based X Elite chips used in high-end laptops.
Q2. What is the key processor in the Snapdragon 8 Elite?
Answer. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is built on the second generation custom-built Qualcomm Oryon CPU.
Q3. Which smartphone manufacturers will release Snapdragon 8 Elite devices?
Answer. ASUS, Honor, iQOO, OnePlus, OPPO, RealMe, Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi, and more will be releasing Snapdragon 8 Elite devices.
Q4. What are the expected performance improvements in the Snapdragon 8 Elite?
Answer. Qualcomm claims a 45% boost in CPU performance and 44% better power efficiency compared to its predecessor.
Q5. What connectivity features does the Snapdragon 8 Elite offer?
Answer. The Snapdragon 8 Elite includes the Snapdragon X80 5G modem, supporting peak download speeds of up to 10 Gbps and pairing with Qualcomm’s FastConnect 7900, which supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and UWB.
Also Read : Realme GT7 Pro set to launch in India as first Snapdragon 8 Elite smartphone next month
Also Read : OnePlus 13 might be the first to launch with Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, new teaser hints
Also Read : Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: A quick comparison