Key Takeaways
- Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite offers faster performance and better battery life than previous chips.
- The chip features improved AI capabilities, leading to enhanced features in flagship smartphones.
- Expect the Snapdragon 8 Elite in smartphones like Galaxy S25 Ultra and OnePlus 13.
Like clockwork, Qualcomm is back with a new high-end smartphone chip that’s likely to be featured in nearly every top-tier Android device released this year.
First off, the Snapdragon 8 Elite features the chipmaker’s Oryon CPU, technology that first appeared in its X Elite laptop chips last year (though this is a 2nd generation version of that chip). Other key information includes the chip’s 3nm build, which is a notable step up from last year’s 4nm technology.
This allows the 4.32GHz Snapdragon 8 Elite to deliver 45 percent faster single and multi-core performance, while using 27 percent less power than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (this could result in 2.5 extra hours of gaming). Hopefully, this means Android devices that feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite will offer improved battery life over their predecessors. Qualcomm also says the chip features 40 percent more powerful gaming performance.
Qualcomm
For more Snapdragon 8 Elite specs, click on the infographic above.
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Qualcomm goes big on AI
Just like every tech company right now…
Qualcomm
As you may have already guessed, Qualcomm is going big on the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s AI capabilities by giving it a 45 percent faster NPU (neural processing unit). This means we’ll likely see a lot of new AI features make their way to flagship smartphones from manufacturers like OnePlus, Asus, Oppo, and Xiaomi.
The Verge reports that the new NPU offers support for a new on-device AI-powered video object eraser tool that allows users to remove elements from video clips. It’s unclear what smartphone will offer this futuristic-sounding tech first — or how well it will work — but my best guess is Samsung’s Galaxy S25. This feature sounds a little too good to be true given how difficult it is to edit video with AI convincingly, but it will be interesting to see if Qualcomm can pull it off.
It’s likely that we’ll first see Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite in notable flagship smartphones like the Galaxy S25 Ultra (at least in North America) and possibly the OnePlus 13, which is expected to be revealed soon.
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