Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the company’s latest flagship Mobile Platform at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit 2025 event, as it had promised.
CPU
Compared to the predecessor, this uses Qualcomm’s 3rd gen custom Qualcomm Oryon CPU for mobile, with up to 4.6 GHz peak CPU speeds. This promises 20% boost in CPU performance in single-core, 17% in multi-core up to 35% CPU power efficiency and 16% overall SoC power savings, compared to predecessor.
It has 2 x Prime cores at up to 4.6 GHz and 6 x Performance cores at up to 3.63 GHz. There is fastest LPDDR5X memory at 5300MHz.
GPU
The next-generation Adreno GPU features a sliced architecture with a 1.2GHz clock speed, promising a 23% increase in overall performance, 20% reduction in power consumption, and 25% improved Ray Tracing compared to the previous generation.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 sees another leap forward with the introduction of Adreno High Performance Memory (HPM) and support for next gen gaming features, like Tile Memory Heap and Mesh Shading. Plus, full Unreal Engine 5 support brings console-quality visuals and immersive gameplay to your mobile device for the first time, said the company.
NPU
The new Hexagon NPU is 37% faster and features added AI accelerators for
devices to run the latest large language models (LLMs) that power on-device AI agents without draining the battery, said Qualcomm. The enhanced Hexagon NPU, delivers 16% better performance per watt.
ISP
The Qualcomm Spectra AI ISP includes several improvements. This is the first mobile platform to record in Advanced Professional Video (APV) Codec. APV offers near-lossless video quality from mobile devices, enabling greater control in post-production, including highlight and shadow adjustments, and precise color grading while preserving every detail, giving creators the full creative freedom to realize their artistic vision.
This is the world’s first mobile platform featuring triple 20-bit ISPs for 4x the dynamic range that enables groundbreaking computational photography through tight collaboration with the Hexagon NPU.
The AI-ISP is responsible for AI based processing, such as Night Vision 3.0 and real-time tone adjustments, for stunning images and videos.
Connectivity
It has Snapdragon X85 5G Modem RF System that sets a new standard in 5G technology, combining Release 17 and 18 capabilities with a 5G AI processor.
It achieves 30% faster AI inferencing speeds for smarter, more reliable mobile experiences, up to 12.5Gbps and uplink speeds up to 3.7Gbps.
The FastConnect 7900 Mobile Connectivity System offers 40% improved power savings from previous generation and Up to 50% lower gaming latency with AI-enhanced Wi-Fi.
Find lost items or gain access control with UWB, Wi-Fi ranging, and Bluetooth Channel Sounding with Proximity AI.access secure buildings, and more.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (SM8850-AC ) specifications
- 2 x Oryon Prime CPU at up to 4.6GHz, 6 x Oryon Performance CPUs at up to 3.62GHz
- 3nm Process Technology
- Built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon X85 5G modem-RF system
- 5G speeds of up to 10Gpbs down, mmWave: 8 carriers, 2×2 MIMO, Sub-6 GHz: 4×6 MIMO, Converged mmWave-sub-6 transceiver, Qualcomm AI-Powered Data Traffic Engine for better end user experience and performance with AI-enhanced dynamic gaming traffic prioritization, AI-enhanced OTT calling for clearer voice and video calls, and smooth WiFi cellular transfer
- Qualcomm Adreno next-gen GPU, Qualcomm Oryon CPU with hardware-based AI acceleration
- Qualcomm Hexagon NPU, Fused AI accelerator architecture, 12 scalar + 8 vector + 1 accelerator configuration, Hexagon Direct Link, Micro Tile Inferencing, Concurrency support, 64-bit memory virtualization
- Adreno GPU, Qualcomm Adreno High Performance Memory (HPM), Tile Memory Heap, Unreal Engine 5 Advanced Optimizations, Real-time Hardware-Accelerated Ray Tracing with Lumen, Global Illumination, Nanite Virtualized Geometry, Screen Space Ambient Occlusion, Temporal Anti-Aliasing, Temporal Super Resolution
- Snapdragon Adaptive Game Configuration – Gaming Frame Rate Conversion, Auto Variable Rate Shading, Snapdragon Game Super Resolution 2.0, Adreno Frame Motion Engine 3.0, 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 108 MP single camera @ 30FPS with Zero Shutter Lag, Up to 320-megapixel photo capture, Qualcomm Spectra Image Signal Processor – Triple 20-bit AI-ISPs
- Limitless real-time Semantic Segmentation photo and video processing, Advanced Professional Video (APV) Codec, Engine for Visual Analytics (EVA) 5.0 with significant quality improvement in local motion estimation (optical flow), Locally Motion Compensated Temporal Filtering, Support for the latest HDR, LOFIC, DCG+VS, DCG, Staggered,
QDOL, Less Blanking, and Multi-Frame 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
- Video capture HDR formats: HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision, 8K HDR video playback @60FPS, 4K video capture @120FPS, Slow-mo video capture at 1080p @ 480FPS, Hardware Bokeh Engine 2 for video capture Pro Sight video capture, Ultra-low light video capture in 4K60 and AI Noise Reduction in 4K30FPS, Computational HDR video capture: Up to 4 exposures (with QDOL image sensors), Video super resolution Massive Multi-Frame Noise Reduction with AI AI Video Processing – Enhanced AI video segmentation @ 4K60FPS, Real-time AI skin and sky tone adjustments in 4K60FPS
- On-Device Display Support: 4K+ @ 120Hz,QHD+ @ 240Hz, Maximum External Display Support: Up to 4K @ 120Hz Up to 8K @ 30Hz, Scaling and Detail Enhancement, 10-bit color depth, Rec. 2020 color gamut, HDR10, HDR10+, HDR vivid, and Dolby Vision HDR, Display Uniformity Correction, Display Aging Compensation
- 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, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6GHz, Bluetooth 6.0, LE Audio, Dual Bluetooth antennas, Integrated Ultra Wideband (UWB), IEEE 802.15.4z, FiRA, CCC
- Snapdragon Sound Technology Suite: Qualcomm aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless audio, Qualcomm Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN)
technology, Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec, Qualcomm Aqstic smart speaker amplifier: Total, Harmonic Distortion + Noise (THD+N) Playback: -108dB, Qualcomm Aqstic Speaker Max, Qualcomm Audio and Voice Communication Suite, Spatial audio with head-tracking - Concurrent GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC, Triple frequency GNSS (L1/L2C/L5), AI-based GNSS Location Gen 3, Sensor-Assisted Positioning 6.0, Urban pedestrian navigation with sidewalk accuracy, Global freeway lane-level vehicle navigation
- USB Version 3.1 Gen 2; USB Type-C Support, UFS 4.1
- Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 technology
Availability
Qualcomm said that HONOR, iQOO, Nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, POCO, realme, REDMI, RedMagic, ROG, Samsung, Sony, vivo, Xiaomi and ZTE, are poised to launch devices powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, in the coming days.