Snapdragon 8 Elite 3nm Chip Unveiled For Android Devices: Enhanced Performance, On-Device AI And More
Snapdragon 8 Elite, touted to be the fastest mobile processor to date, is set to power upcoming flagship smartphones from leading brands such as Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, ASUS, and OPPO.
Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset was unveiled by Qualcomm at the Snapdragon Summit held in Hawaii on Tuesday. The newest mobile processor promises enhanced speed, efficiency, better back-up and intelligence compared to its predecessors.
Taking a leap from from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the company has claimed upgrades in Snapdragon 8 Elite such as on-device generative artificial intelligence (AI) and multi-modal AI capabilities, a Hexagon neural processing unit (NPU), second-generation custom-built Qualcomm Oryon CPU, and enhanced AI image signal processing (ISP).
The latest chip, touted to be the fastest mobile processor to date, is set to power upcoming flagship smartphones from leading brands such as Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, ASUS, and OPPO.
Snapdragon 8 Elite: Features and Highlights
With the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, Qualcomm brings Oryon CPU architecture for better performance to Android smartphones after its debut for the company’s Snapdragon X Elite processor for PCs earlier this year.
A prominent feature of the chip is its capability to handle artificial intelligence (AI) tasks directly on the device. This includes understanding speech, recognising images, and processing context to enhance device intelligence. It can improve voice command recognition and photo quality, without requiring an internet connection.
Qualcomm states that the Snapdragon 8 Elite achieved an AnTuTu score exceeding 3 million. Its CPU can reach speeds of up to 4.32 GHz, a 45% enhanced performance over its predecessor. The SoC also supports on-device displays with a maximum QHD resolution with up to 240Hz refresh rate and 10-bit colour depth.
The Adreno GPU within the Snapdragon 8 Elite bolster graphics performance by 40%, making it ideal for mobile gaming and high-quality video playback. It also boasts 44% better power efficiency.
The advanced chip enables up to 320 MP cameras and can record 8K videos at 60 frames per second, offering very high resolution. It also supports slow-motion video recording in 1080p at 480 frames per second.
On the connectivity front, the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC features the Qualcomm FastConnect 7900 System with support for Wi-Fi 7 at 6GHz, 5GHz and 2.4GHz spectral bands and Bluetooth 5.4. It is equipped with the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System and an AI tensor accelerator which can achieve multi-gigabit 5G speeds in multiple places with the first 4×6 MIMO solution.
Qualcomm says devices running this chipset will support up to LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage.
Snapdragon 8 Elite debuts as the first Qualcomm chipset to run on the 3nm process, a major upgrade over the 4nm process on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 used in most flagship devices of last year.
According to the San Diego-based company, the Snapdragon 8 Elite supports satellite systems such as QZSS, Galileo, Beidou, GLONASS, NavIC, and GPS with lane-level and sidewalk-level precision. It has triple frequency support with sensor-assisted navigation and concurrent satellite system features. Additionally, it supports up to Quick Charge 5 via USB Type-C and fingerprint recognition via Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor Max. Alternatively, it also features biometric support for voice, facial and iris-based verification.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Chipset Availability
Qualcomm says Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC will power flagship android devices that are expected to launch in the coming weeks. The chip will be adopted for smartphones by brands including Asus, Honor, iQOO, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Samsung, Vivo, and Xiaomi.
The much-awaited OnePlus 13 could be the first smartphone to debut the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC.
Also Read: OnePlus 13 Launch Date, Design, And Features: Everything You Need to Know
Here are some of the early models to feature Snapdragon 8 Elite:
- realme GT 7 Pro
- Xiaomi 15
- OnePlus 13
- iQOO 13
- Asus ROG Phone 9
- Samsung Galaxy S25 Series