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Qualcomm is set to introduce a slightly more powerful version of its current-generation flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, later this month. The direct successor to the Snapdragon 8 Elite is rumored to be called the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 instead of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2. However, a recent rumor suggests that in terms of energy efficiency, the latest model will consume about the same wattage as its predecessor.
The lack of efficiency improvements could be due to Qualcomm increasing the frequencies of both the performance and efficiency cores of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 while using an updated version of TSMC’s 3nm process. According to a rumor from Weibo’s Digital Chat Station, the new SoC is expected to launch on September 23.
Specifically, this technology represents a modest 5 percent performance improvement over the same power consumption levels. Alternatively, it can deliver between a 5-10 percent improvement in battery life savings at the same clock speeds. This means that Qualcomm’s upcoming flagship silicon should exhibit better attributes due to its transition from 3nm to 2nm.
San Diego is making only a minor lithography jump, but Qualcomm will likely extract every drop of performance from the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Even an underclocked version tested on the Galaxy S26 Edge with its performance cores running at 4.00GHz instead of 4.74GHz managed to outperform the Snapdragon 8 Elite in both single-core and multi-core tests.
Thanks to advancements in silicon-carbon battery technology, Qualcomm’s Chinese partners will likely equip their devices with large cells to offset the higher power consumption when the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is running at its maximum potential. These smartphones should continue to offer extended battery life.
For any additional differences that we haven’t uncovered yet, we’ll update our readers soon.
News Source: Digital Chat Station
