Qualcomm has unveiled its most powerful mobile platform yet — the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 — at the ongoing Snapdragon Summit 2025 in Hawai, US.
This is the annual upgrade from Qualcomm which rivals Apple’s A19 Pro chip and will power the next generation of Android flagship phones.
The new chip brings more performance, efficiency and also improves the on-device AI capabilities, shaping the future of smartphones.
Qualcomm has unveiled its most powerful mobile platform yet — the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 — at the ongoing Snapdragon Summit 2025 in Hawai, US. This is the annual upgrade from Qualcomm which rivals Apple’s A19 Pro chip and will power the next generation of Android flagship phones. The new chip brings more performance, efficiency and also improves the on-device AI capabilities, shaping the future of smartphones.
SurveyWhile the chip will soon be available on a bunch of new smartphones, Qualcomm showcased it to select media at a briefing on a reference device. The new chip score over 4.2 million AnTuTu, way more than the flagship chip from both Apple and MediaTek.
It’s Geekbench 6 and PCMark scores were also quite impressive.
Speaking at the Summit, Cristiano Amon, President and CEO, Qualcomm highlighted that the company wants to bring AI everywhere including phones, PCs, smart devices and even automobiles. “Every year we have to reinvent itself. The job of every Snapdragon Summit is to announcer better chip than last year. That’s what we are doing it this year. We are going to bring AI everywhere, leading the next generation of innovation,” he said.
At the heart of the new platform is the 3rd Gen Qualcomm Oryon CPU, which Qualcomm claims is the fastest mobile CPU ever, delivering a 20% boost in performance over its predecessor. Complementing it is a redesigned Qualcomm Adreno GPU, improving graphics performance by 23 and a Hexagon NPU with 37% faster AI processing. Together, these upgrades promise smoother multitasking, longer gaming sessions and highly efficient on-device intelligence.
Also read: Qualcomm introduces Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme putting Intel and AMD on alert
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 also enables what Qualcomm describes as personalized agentic AI assistants. These are the AI models that continuously learn on-device, process real-time inputs and proactively suggest actions without compromising user privacy.
“With Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, you are at the center of your mobile experience,” said Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handsets at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “It enables personalized AI agents to see what you see, hear what you hear and think with you in real time.”
For creators, the platform introduces a world first: Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec recording on mobile. Combined with AI-powered camera features, this allows for studio-grade video production and extensive post-production flexibility, further positioning smartphones as professional creative tools.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will debut in flagship devices from leading OEMs and smartphone brands in the coming days. Confirmed partners include Honor, iQOO, Nubia, OnePlus, Oppo, Poco, Realme, Redmi, RedMagic, ROG, Samsung, Sony, vivo, Xiaomi and ZTE.
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Manas Tiwari
Manas has spent a decade in media, juggling between Broadcast, Online, Radio and Print journalism. Currently, he leads the Technology coverage across Times Now Tech and Digit for the Times Network. He has previously worked for India Today where he launched Fiiber for the group, Zee Business and Financial Express. He spends his week following the latest tech trends, policy changes and exploring gadgets. On other days, you can find him watching Premier League and Formula 1. View Full Profile
