Qualcomm has just revealed a new addition to its 8-series, but it’s not quite the top dog. This one, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, slots in just beneath the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Don’t let its positioning fool you, though; it’s sharing some serious DNA with its more elite sibling. It’s also built on a 3nm process and packs the same third-generation Oryon CPU. You get the same configuration of two high-power cores ticking along at 3.8 GHz and six performance cores running at 3.32GHz.
So, how much quicker is it? Qualcomm is putting its new chip up against the two-year-old Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and the numbers are decent. They’re promising a 36% jump in CPU tasks, an 11% better GPU output, and a massive 46% improvement in AI workloads, all while using 13% less power across the entire chip.
On the graphics front, the 8 Gen 5 gets the same Adreno 840 GPU with the Frame Motion Engine 3.0 as you’d find in the Elite model, though it does miss out on the Adreno High-Performance Memory (HPM). The AI heavy lifting is handled by the Hexagon NPU, which is responsible for that big generational leap in AI performance and brings support for on-device AI and multi-modal input. Rounding out the package are the capable Spectra ISP for imaging and the same X80 5G Modem-RF system that was used in last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite.
As for which phone you’ll see it in first, that honour goes to OnePlus with their upcoming Ace 6T, which may also be known as the 15R globally. Other manufacturers like iQOO, Motorola, and Vivo are also expected to announce devices featuring the new chip in the near future.