The Snapdragon 8 Elite was just the stepping stone of what Qualcomm was planning for its future flagship smartphone chipset releases, especially after incorporating its in-house Oryon cores in its current-generation SoC. Now, we will see those efforts maintained in the successor, which, surprisingly, will not be called the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 or even the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2.
Instead, according to a previous rumor, on September 23, Qualcomm will announce the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and all the other improvements that are expected to be accompanied with the top-end silicon, and to bring you up to speed, here is all the important information you wanted to know about it before the official unveiling.
Why is Qualcomm shifting to yet another confusing naming scheme?
It would make complete sense to introduce the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 or Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, but Qualcomm had other plans, with all relevant queries mentioned in its OnQblog, including the admission of its flagship silicon’s name. Whether the lineup still appears confusing to readers is another debate, but this is what the company has settled on.
Alongside the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a non-flagship SoC called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 could be found in devices that ship with nearly the same features but will be significantly more affordable. There is also the possibility that a less capable Snapdragon 8s Gen 5 will be announced next year, completing the entire lineup for 2026.
Lithography, CPU cluster, and GPU details
It will take another year for Qualcomm to shift to TSMC’s cutting-edge 2nm process. For 2025, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is expected to be mass produced on the 3nm ‘N3P’ node, making it a slightly improved iteration over the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s 3nm ‘N3E’ technology. As for the improvements, TSMC’s 3nm ‘N3P’ can deliver a 5 percent performance at the same power consumption or a 5-10 percent improvement in energy savings at the same clock speeds.
In short, the manufacturing process is not revolutionary and is just a minor step-up from the technology introduced last year. Fortunately, Qualcomm has taken full advantage of TSMC’s latest node, because despite sticking with the same ‘2 + 6’ CPU cluster as the Snapdragon 8 Elite, a Geekbench 6 leak allegedly showed the Galaxy S26 Edge’s two performance cores clocked at 4.74GHz by default, with the remaining six efficiency cores running at 3.63GHz.
However, keep in mind that this is likely the higher-binned version that Samsung will have exclusive access to, with the regular Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s performance and efficiency cores previously rumored to run at 4.61GHz and 3.63GHz, respectively. To remind you, the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s performance and efficiency cores ran at 4.32GHz and 3.53GHz, meaning that a small frequency bump should be expected. As for the Adreno 840 GPU, its default clock speed is 1.20GHz, which is up from Adreno 830’s 1.10GHz.
Other specifications
The cache size on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is also rumored to receive a bump. Where the Snapdragon 8 Elite flaunted 12MB of L2 and L3 cache, totaling 24MB, its immediate successor could feature 16MB of L2 and L3 cache, reaching 32MB. As for the NPU, it might deliver 100TOPS of processing speeds. For reference, the Snapdragon X Elite’s NPU can reach a maximum speed of 45TOPS, meaning that, based on rumors, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which is still a smartphone SoC, will be more than twice as fast as a notebook-class silicon, which is impressive if this ends up being true.
Performance predictions
Remember the Galaxy S26 Edge leak that we mentioned above? Instead of the flagship’s performance cores running at 4.74GHz, they were downclocked to 4.00GHz. Despite this reduction, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 obtained incredible single-core and multi-core results that matched or even beat the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s scores, so imagine how far a chipset operating at its full potential could go? Also, a rumor has claimed that the gaming performance of Qualcomm’s upcoming SoC is significantly better, and it achieves this feat while consuming less power than the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
However, the tipster who shared the aforementioned claims had previously said that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 had a similar power consumption as its direct predecessor but would deliver better performance. This rumor hints that the chipset’s capabilities will depend on which test is performed, with some applications possibly being favored over others. As for its alleged AnTuTu score, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 scored more than 4 million points, making it miles ahead of the fastest Snapdragon 8 Elite smartphone on the benchmark’s leaderboards.
In short, thanks to TSMC’s newer 3nm ‘N3P’ process and the introduction of Qualcomm’s second-generation in-house Oryon cores, we will eventually witness a brand new release that should trump the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the competition in every way possible, but we should hold out our excitement for later this month. We will share all incoming updates in the coming days, so remember to stay tuned.
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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