Snapdragon 8 Elite: All the Details
So, What Is the Snapdragon 8 Elite?
Your smartphone's chip, or processor (also known as SoC for System on a Chip), is the brain of your phone. From launching applications to playing videos, handling AI assistants to processing images, it takes care of all of them.
Qualcomm officially unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite on October 21, 2024, and the chipset will be the flagship chipset for the next generation of Android smartphones.
But why is it called "Elite" instead of "Gen 4" as most people would have hoped for, since it was a more significant change for the mobile Snapdragon platform, albeit it's the first to feature custom Oryon CPU cores.
That's a massive change. It's like a car company changing their entire engine, as opposed to just tuning it.
The Oryon CPU: A Giant leap over the previous chips
The Snapdragon 8 Elite features a CPU called Oryon. However, there's the part of the chip that's responsible for basic computing — loading Web pages, running your apps — and that's called the CPU, or Central Processing Unit.
While Arm's Cortex series cores have been used on previous Snapdragon chips, the Snapdragon 8 Elite has in-house custom CPU cores dubbed Oryon, which are based on Arm architecture. The chip is made up of two 4.32 GHz 'prime' cores and six 3.53 GHz performance cores.
One thing that may surprise you: In contrast to previous chipsets based on the quad-tier design, the Snapdragon 8 Elite features a simpler two-tier design that doesn't include efficiency cores.
It may seem obvious that the removal of efficiency cores would negatively impact battery life. However, that was not the case.
The fact that there's no efficiency cores, doesn't prevent the 44% improvement in efficiency, as the TSMC's 3nm manufacturing process allows transistors to be packed closer together, which also lowers power waste and dissipates less heat.
Qualcomm says that the CPU performance has improved by 45% and power efficiency has improved by 44% compared to the previous generation Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
If you're a gaming enthusiast and wondering if a phone could be the best way to save money on a gaming setup, then you might be interested in reading our article on the Best Laptops Under ₹60,000 for Gaming & Coding (2026).
What Does This Mean In Practice?
Realistically, your phone will be more responsive when opening apps, smoother when you're multitasking and cooler when using apps such as video editing or games. There is also a likely increase in battery life when compared to phones with the older chip.
The Shift to a New Level of Gaming.
Here are some noteworthy enhancements in the Snapdragon 8 Elite that you might want to know about if you're a mobile gamer.
The new GPU, known as the Adreno 830 GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), is 40% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, consumes 40% less power and delivers 35% higher ray tracing capabilities for games.
Ray tracing is a graphics rendering method that emulates the physics of light in real life, which makes shadows, reflections and lighting in games look much more realistic.
Additionally, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is the first mobile chipset to support Unreal Engine 5.3 with Nanite, which will allow for more realistic environments and more lifelike object interactions as part of the gaming experience.
If that's too techy, just consider the games on these phones will appear and perform more like your gaming PC or console.
What is new and why is it important in AI capabilities?
Smartphone AI (Artificial Intelligence) capabilities, such as on-device search, real-time language translation, voice assistants, and smart photo editing, are now a standard in smartphones.
The new Hexagon neural processing unit (NPU) in the Snapdragon 8 Elite allows AI tasks to be performed 45% faster than was the case with the previous chip.
One of the major improvements is the inclusion of multimodal generative AI – that means audio, vision (via pointing your camera at the object), and video will be included in addition to the current text, speech, and photo.
Camera & Display Capabilities
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is also used in a phone's camera and display system.
It can handle up to 320MP of sensor or a triple 48MP camera setup, and is capable of supporting up to Quad HD+ 10-bit displays.
The chip also brings support for Wi-Fi 7 and the Snapdragon X80 5G modem, for high-speed wireless and cellular connectivity.
Which Phones are running on Snapdragon 8 Elite?
The Xiaomi 15, Honor Magic 7 Pro, ASUS ROG Phone 9 and the Realme GT 7 Pro are likely to be the first smartphones in the world to get the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
- Xiaomi 15
- Honor Magic 7 Pro
- ASUS ROG Phone 9
- Realme GT 7 Pro
- OnePlus 13 (first to reach U.S. market — January 2025)
- Samsung Galaxy S25
- Samsung Galaxy S25+
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
The OnePlus 13 became available worldwide in January 2025, and was the first phone to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset to hit the U.S. market.
AI features and the chip itself are among the highlights of the Samsung's Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra, all featuring the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
Qualcomm has confirmed that device makers such as ASUS, Honor, iQOO, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi and others are developing devices with this chip.
f you're looking for a great Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered phone without breaking the bank, check out our guide on the Best Smartphones Under ₹50,000 in India (2026).
Just a heads up: when making purchases, make sure to check the specifications for your region as some markets may get a different version of a phone.
Is the Snapdragon 8 Elite worth it?
However, if you're looking to purchase a flagship Android device in 2026, you can expect to see several phones built with this chip. The reason most people don't care about the Snapdragon 8 Elite is that they're not buying a single phone, they're buying a phone that will meet their needs in the best possible way for the price point.
Of course, that's a practical advantage that you'll benefit from over time, not just in benchmarks, since vendors have made improvements to the thermal design specifically for the devices powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is the re-branded version of the chipset that was earlier planned to be called Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Qualcomm did the re-branding because it wanted to give the impression that it was an upgrade that was much more than a simple generation change.
Yes, it comes with the Snapdragon X80 5G modem to ensure super fast cellular connectivity, and Wi-Fi 7 is supported via Qualcomm's FastConnect 7800 system.
According to Qualcomm, the performance of the CPU has increased by 45% and the energy efficiency of the CPU has improved by 44% compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. GPU performance is also improved by about 40%. These are Qualcomm's own numbers and actual performance may differ depending on the phone and application.
Yes. The Hexagon NPU in the chip is built for on-device AI, meaning that several AI features are local and don't require data to be sent to a server. This is more private and quicker.
Unlikely. This is a chip for flagship and premium phones. A lower-end version of Qualcomm's portfolio is normally used in budget and mid-range phones.
Final Thoughts
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is more than just a speed bump, it's a paradigm shift for Android smartphones, with custom CPU cores making their debut on a mobile phone. For those purchasing a high end Android cell today, this chip is the one which powers the best experiences available.
However, it's only a part of the package that's in the chip. The size, camera, software and price are all equally important. Prior to purchasing, research to see which version of the phone is available in your region, and always verify the latest phone specifications on the manufacturer's official site as they may differ from model to model and market.
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