Qualcomm has unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, set to power flagship phones like the Galaxy S26, OnePlus 13, and Xiaomi 17. Built on TSMC’s 3nm process, it offers up to 4.6GHz speeds (4.74GHz on Galaxy), with 20% better performance, 35% higher efficiency, and 16% lower power use versus its predecessor.
The CPU adds hardware AI acceleration, while the new Hexagon NPU is 37% faster and supports INT2 precision for running larger AI models. The GPU gains 23% performance, 20% power savings, and new features like full Unreal Engine 5 support and Adreno High Performance Memory for gaming.
Camera upgrades include a 20-bit triple ISP, Dragon Fusion computational video, Snapdragon Audio Sense, and support for Samsung’s APV video codec for near-lossless capture. Connectivity is handled by the X85 modem (12.5Gbps downlink) with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and UWB in the FastConnect 7900 suite.
First devices with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will arrive soon, starting with the Xiaomi 17 series later this month, followed by Samsung and other major brands.
Source: Android Authority