Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 vs 8 Elite Gen 5: Which Chip Powers Your Next Phone?
Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 offers balanced performance, thermal efficiency, and battery life compared to 8 Elite Gen 5. First phones set to launch in November.
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By the end of November 2025, Qualcomm is going to introduce its new high-end chip, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, in the worldwide market. It is the second announcement after the launch of Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in China as a September event.
According to tech insider Digital Chat Station (DCS), early disclosures indicate that at least two phones along with Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will be released this month which denotes very fast new chipset rollout.
As the information leaks go, the first device probably to use the new chip is the OnePlus Ace 6 Pro Max. The device is expected to have a flat display with the support of 165Hz refresh rate and a 8000 mAh big battery which will guarantee both speed and long life of battery.
Next phone expected to be launched alongside is the Vivo S50 Pro Mini. This one is different from the OnePlus as it is a camera phone with a Sony IMX8-series periscope telephoto camera. It also comes with the flat display and ultrasonic fingerprint scanner for access that is secure.
Besides OnePlus and Vivo, companies like Meizu, iQOO, and Motorola are said to be working on devices that will have the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset inside them. The anticipated smartphones are Meizu 23, a series of iQOO Z11 Turbo, and the Motorola Edge 70 Ultra. Furthermore, reports suggest that Oppo K15 Turbo Pro and Honor GT 2 are also likely to try the new processor soon.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor is built using TSMC’s N3P technology, thus giving high performance and yet being energy efficient. Its core consists of a split-core at 3.8 GHz, six-core at 3.32 GHz, and an Adreno 840 GPU operating around 1.2 GHz.
Benchmark tests indicate excellent results. The chipset scores nearly 3.3 million on AnTuTu, while Geekbench 6 measures single-core and multi-core performance scores around 3,000 and 10,000 respectively. In graphics-heavy tests such as the Aztec 1440p benchmark, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is almost 100fps, indicating a good mix of performance and power consumption.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 keeps up with the 8 Elite Gen 5 regarding CPU speed and has marginally lower GPU performance. The latest chip, however, is said to offer better thermal efficiency, longer performance, and battery usage, thus becoming a well-rounded choice for the upcoming flagship smartphone.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is expected to become the principal processor for high-end handsets. Its presence may be seen in many new smartphone models, which are already on the calendar for 2025.
