Expected to appear in smartphones from OnePlus and Motorola shortly.
Expected to appear in smartphones from OnePlus and Motorola shortly.
When Qualcomm unveiled its premium Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset in November, it indicated that a non-Elite variant was forthcoming, intended to power a more budget-friendly range of flagship smartphones. Now, that chipset has officially made its debut, featuring some performance reductions but retaining the same fundamental characteristics.
Qualcomm draws comparisons between the 8 Gen 5 and 2023’s 8 Gen 3, claiming a 36 percent enhancement in CPU efficiency and an 11 percent increase in GPU effectiveness relative to that model, alongside operational efficiency gains. However, since the 8 Gen 3 is now two years old, and Qualcomm has altered its CPU architecture during that time, the latest 8 Elite Gen 5 provides a more relevant benchmark.
The 8 Gen 5 utilizes a comparable Oryon CPU framework to the Elite, albeit with reduced clock speeds — its six performance cores peak at 3.32GHz, while the two prime cores reach 3.8GHz, compared to the Elite’s 3.62GHz and 4.6GHz, respectively. Thus, in theory, its performance falls below last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, though we will need to observe how actual devices perform in real-world scenarios.
There are several other compromises in comparison to the new Elite. The standard Gen 5’s X80 modem offers marginally lower peak 5G speeds, although Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities should remain unchanged, and both satellite and ultra wideband (UWB) capabilities are included. Additionally, it has slightly reduced specifications for its Adreno GPU and Hexagon AI NPU, although Qualcomm has not provided detailed comparisons there, and the latest UFS 4.1 storage is not supported. Nevertheless, many specifications, such as charging capacities, display compatibility, and the majority of camera hardware options, are identical between the two chipsets.
Qualcomm states that multiple manufacturers, including Motorola, OnePlus, and Vivo, have already agreed to incorporate the chip into upcoming smartphones, with the first models anticipated to arrive “in the near future.” This might indicate we will see it integrated into the OnePlus 15R, which is now confirmed for a US launch on December 17th.
