The Snapdragon 8 Elite Chip and All the Phones That Will Feature It

Qualcomm is back on the stage with a brand new chipset and instead of catering to midrange phones, it is aiming for high end flagships. The Snapdragon 8 Elite brings changes to the brand’s nomenclature and its internals, promising a notable boost in performance. 

Coming in as the successor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Snapdragon 8 Elite follows Apple in adopting the superior 3nm platform. Look closely and you will find the newborn Snapdragon bringing in the advanced chip architecture from the X Elite chips you usually find in modern-day ARM-based laptops. 

While we await the benchmark figures from Qualcomm and all its partner OEMs, the memo is out for the devices that will be getting it. Within the restricted walls of the Chinese technology market, the Snapdragon 8 Elite will power some flagship phones from popular brands. Unlike the norm, the global markets, including India, will get to see these Snapdragon 8 Elite phones as early as November 2024! 

Although the wait is long (and unjust) for Android fans, all we can do right now is take a brief look at all the benefits that the new Snapdragon chip will bring to these phones. We will also be taking a look at all the phones confirmed to get the new Qualcomm chip along with the ones speculated in the coming year. 

Girls and boys, time to get your geek on. 

ALSO READ: Qualcomm at IMC 2024: Here’s What We Found Interesting at Its Booth

Snapdragon 8 Elite: Why we are talking about it

While Apple spared no opportunity in moving on to the new 3 nm process node with the A17 Pro chip in 2023, Qualcomm took its time. After achieving a great balance of performance and efficiency with the 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Qualcomm wanted to give its first 3nm mobile chip the next level of performance. 

Hence, they borrowed their achievements from the Snapdragon X Elite chips designed for ARM-based Windows laptops.

The result? Let’s check it out. 

- The new Oryon CPU borrowed from the laptop chip offers two prime cores clocked at 4.32 GHz and six Performance cores clocked at 3.53 GHz. There’s support for 24 MB L2 cache and 5,300 MHz LPDDR5X RAM. In layman’s English, this translates to a 45 per cent boost in performance. Power efficiency figures also see improvements by 44 per cent! Faster performance without draining your battery life!

- Mobile gaming enthusiasts will be happy to see the new Adreno GPU bringing up to 40 per cent improvement in overall performance while sipping 40 per cent less power. Native support for Unreal Engine 5.3 is baked in too. Although most Android games are yet to take advantage of these improvements, the future looks promising for the mobile gaming industry. 

- Qualcomm also claims up to 45 per cent improvement in AI processing and brings support for multimodal GenAI support. This should aid onboard AI features like Google Gemini and Galaxy AI to run more efficiently. 

- The new X80 5G modem will technically allow for 10 Gbps download speeds and maximum upload speeds of 3.5 Gbps. You also get support for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 and Ultra Wideband connections (the latter useful for trackers). 

Which phones are getting the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip?

Being Qualcomm’s flagship offering for phone manufacturers, you can expect all of 2025’s high-end phones to house this superfast chip at their heart. On the occasion of its launch, some brands confirmed their products featuring the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. 

Xiaomi 15

Xiaomi’s best offering for 2025 has been confirmed to get Qualcomm’s best! The Xiaomi 15 series will debut the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and given the brand’s history, we can expect a beefier Xiaomi 15 Ultra with more insane specifications. The phone might be coming out in China in 2024 but global markets could see it in 2025.

Realme GT7 Pro

The Realme GT7 Pro will follow the Xiaomi 15 as the next phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. However, this will be India’s first taste of Qualcomm’s 3nm mobile chip. 

OnePlus 13

The OnePlus 13 will feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. Paired with a new design (as teased by the leaks) and fresh cameras, we expect the OnePlus flagship to offer improvements in the AI department. 

iQOO 13

iQOO’s bargain flagship series will also be giving us a taste of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip over the coming months. Keep an eye on this one as this could be the cheapest phone with the 8 Elite. 

Asus ROG Phone 9

The Asus ROG Phone 9 is coming to the global markets in November 2024 as the only gaming phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip. 

Samsung Galaxy S25 series

Although Samsung has refrained from making big announcements yet, rumours suggest that the next generation Galaxy S25 series will get the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip as standard worldwide. Samsung's iteration, however, could feature higher clockspeeds to show better benchmarks.