The first wave of benchmarks for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s engineering sample is here, showing that Qualcomm prioritized insane levels of performance for this chipset, with the new scores showing that the flagship is now the fastest mobile CPU on the planet. Unfortunately, to obtain this disparity, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 had to sacrifice on efficiency to the point that it consumes 61 percent more power than the A19 Pro in Geekbench 6.
New compute performance comparison shows the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is 22.5 percent faster than its predecessor, but the A19 Pro has a 42 percent higher’ performance per watt’ in one specific test
Without wasting precious time, Geekerwan took a deep technical dive with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s single-core and multi-core performance, with Geekbench 6 showing once again that the A19 Pro currently reigns supreme in single-threaded workloads. However, Apple’s flagship A-series chipset is only 4.5 percent faster as it obtains a score of 4,019 compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s 3,846, indicating that Qualcomm is bridging the gap slowly but surely.
In the multi-core category, the story is entirely different because the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is 22.5 percent faster than its immediate predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and secures a score of 12,546, becoming the most powerful CPU in the world. The chipset is 13.5 percent faster than the A19 Pro, but what about the power draw? When we begin to peel the onion’s layers, we get a closer look at the entire picture.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 maintains a lead against the likes of the A19 Pro because the board power of the engineering sample is approaching a whopping 19.5W in Geekbench 6. This means that Qualcomm’s flagship silicon needs to consume 61 percent more juice just to beat the A19 Pro, meaning that the latter is currently the efficiency king of this generation. While we will get into the’ performance per watt’ comparison, have a look at some of the figures below:
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 engineering sample - 12,546 points in multi-core performance at 19.5W
A19 Pro retail sample - 11,054 points in multi-core performance at 12.1W
Dimensity 9500 engineering sample - 10,716 points in multi-core performance at 18W
Now let us come to the ‘performance per watt’ comparison, and for those who do not know, we previously reported that the A19 Pro successfully beat all previous-generation chipsets in Geekbench 6’s multi-core benchmark while maintaining up to a whopping 34 percent improvement in efficiency. However, how does it fare against the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 when strictly comparing the number of points obtained per watt? Have a look below:
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 engineering sample - 643.38 points per watt
A19 Pro retail sample - 913.55 points per watt
Dimensity 9500 engineering sample - 595.33 points per watt
Looking at the aforementioned comparison, the A19 Pro has a 42 percent higher’ performance per watt’ than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in Geekbench 6, with the Dimensity 9500 showcasing the worst efficiency metrics for any 3nm ‘N3P’ chipset. Also, remember that the figures we are looking at only represent what an engineering sample would achieve, meaning that the retail units incoming shortly would deliver a completely different representation.
In short, regarding raw performance, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 has no equal in Geekbench 6’s multi-core category, but when discussing pure efficiency and single-core results, Apple’s A19 Pro continues to be an entire generation ahead of its rivals.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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