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Snapdragon 8 Elite Explained: Uncovering the Technology Behind the World’s Fastest Mobile Chip

Qualcomm’s networking chips are highly famous in the industry, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite includes the top-tier X80 5G modem and FastConnect 7900, delivering enhanced 5G performance and support for Wi-Fi 7.

Qualcomm has officially launched its latest flagship mobile chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Powered by custom second-generation Oryon CPU cores with clock speeds of up to 4.32 GHz, it stands as the most powerful mobile chip currently available. Qualcomm has branded it “Elite” to highlight the significant advancements it brings to the industry.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite introduces several industry-first features, such as on-device multi-modal AI and enhanced CPU and GPU performance. Below are the full specifications and capabilities of this system-on-a-chip. The chip is built by TSMC using a state-of-the-art 3nm process, the same technology behind Apple’s A18 Pro chip in the iPhone 16 Pro.

Snapdragon 8 Elite CPU and GPU Simplified

The Snapdragon 8 Elite features an octa-core central processing unit (CPU) with a hybrid architecture. It includes two prime cores that reach a peak clock speed of up to 4.32 GHz, the highest available on any mobile chip, alongside six performance cores operating at 3.53 GHz. In contrast to the previous generation, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which utilized ARM’s custom Cortex cores, all six CPU cores in the Snapdragon 8 Elite are built using Qualcomm’s second-generation Oryon CPU architecture.

Snapdragon 8 Elite technical details
Snapdragon 8 Elite technical details. (Image credit: Qualcomm)

The Snapdragon 8 Elite features an octa-core central processing unit (CPU) with a hybrid architecture. It includes two prime cores that reach a peak clock speed of up to 4.32 GHz, the highest available on any mobile chip, alongside six performance cores operating at 3.53 GHz. In contrast to the previous generation, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which utilized ARM’s custom Cortex cores, all six CPU cores in the Snapdragon 8 Elite are built using Qualcomm’s second-generation Oryon CPU architecture.

These CPU cores now have access to more than 24 MB of L2 cache, the highest in the industry for a mobile chip, and can be paired with up to 24 GB of LPDDR5x RAM. This new architecture allows the Snapdragon 8 Elite to achieve a 50% improvement in performance over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, marking a significant leap in capability, especially when compared to the previous chip, which was already quite fast.

The new three-core Adreno graphics processing unit (GPU) features a clock speed of 1.1 GHz and is 40% faster while also providing 40% power savings. It delivers a 35% improvement in ray-tracing performance compared to the Adreno 740 found in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Additionally, this is the first mobile GPU to support Unreal Engine 5 Nanite, significantly enhancing gaming compatibility and capabilities.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Enables On-Device AI Experience

Most smartphones currently provide an edge-powered AI experience, where some processing occurs on the device while the rest happens in the cloud. The new and enhanced Hexagon NPU (neural processing unit) is up to 45% faster and offers 45% better performance per watt.

The upgraded NPU features an 8-core scalar accelerator and a 6-core vector accelerator that support large language models (LLMs) and classic AI tasks. This allows AI applications designed for on-device models to process voice input and generate text, images, and audio outputs. Consequently, this capability enables on-device AI applications such as AI Expansion, AI super-resolution, and AI segmentation, which enhance camera performance and image-editing features.

Additionally, the new AI-powered Cognitive Image Sensing Processor (ISP) can handle up to 4.3 GP/s throughput, support native resolutions of up to 320 MP, and record 8K video at 60 fps.

Also Read: Meta has launched an AI model capable of evaluating other AI models’ work, along with Spirit LM, which seamlessly integrates text and speech.

Flagship Networking Experiences

Qualcomm’s networking chips are highly regarded in the industry, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite features the flagship X80 5G modem paired with FastConnect 7900, enhancing 5G performance and supporting Wi-Fi 7 capabilities.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Benchmarks

The Snapdragon 8 Elite demonstrates exceptional performance in benchmarks, achieving scores of 3221 in the Geekbench single-core test and 10236 in the multi-core test. While its single-core score is slightly lower than that of the A18 Pro, the Snapdragon 8 Elite excels in multi-core performance, thanks to its eight CPU cores compared to the six cores of Apple’s A18 Pro.

Snapdragon 8 Elite
CategoryDetails
CPUQualcomm Oryon CPU, 4.32 GHz peak speed, 45% performance boost, 44% power efficiency improvement
AIMultimodal Gen AI, 45% faster than Hexagon NPU, supports a large global Gen AI model ecosystem
GPUAdreno GPU with sliced architecture, 40% performance improvement, 40% greater power efficiency
CameraAI-powered ISP, Limitless Segmentation, AI-Based Pet Capture, 4K60 FPS video capture
AudioSnapdragon Sound Technology Suite, lossless music streaming, lag-free spatial audio
Connectivity5G and Wi-Fi 7, Multi-gigabit speeds, 30% improved location accuracy

On the AnTuTu benchmark, the Snapdragon 8 Elite scores an impressive 3,014,075 points, significantly surpassing the A18 Pro’s score of around 1,700,000. This indicates that the Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers superior GPU, memory, and user experience performance.

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