Qualcomm has announced its new flagship smartphone processors, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. Both chips are built on a 2nm process and use Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU architecture.
The new chips bring a major increase in CPU, GPU and AI performance, along with faster connectivity and new camera capabilities. Qualcomm is also introducing a clear difference between the two chips, with the Extreme model offering additional hardware for gaming, AI and video recording.
One of the biggest changes is the CPU clock speed. Both processors can reach 5GHz, making them the first smartphone platforms from Qualcomm to cross the 5GHz mark.
Both chips have two Oryon Prime cores clocked at up to 5GHz and six Performance cores running at up to 4GHz. They also have 16MB of Oryon Flex Cache.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs 8 Elite Gen 6
| Specification | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Process | 2nm | 2nm |
| CPU | Qualcomm Oryon | Qualcomm Oryon |
| Prime cores | 2, up to 5GHz | 2, up to 5GHz |
| Performance cores | 6, up to 4GHz | 6, up to 4GHz |
| CPU performance vs Gen 5 | Up to 13% higher | Up to 10% higher |
| CPU power efficiency vs Gen 5 | Up to 37% better | Up to 37% better |
| GPU | Adreno with Matrix Cores | Adreno |
| GPU performance vs Gen 5 | Up to 44% higher | Up to 35% higher |
| GPU power efficiency | Up to 40% better | Up to 40% better |
| Adreno HPM | 18MB dedicated memory | Not included |
| Neural Fusion | Yes | No |
| NPU performance | Up to 35% higher | Up to 14% higher |
| AI performance per watt | Up to 33% better | Up to 20% better |
| On-device AI | 30B+ parameter MoE models | Agentic AI support |
| Main camera features | Up to 8K 60fps, 4K 240fps | Intelligent Pixel Control |
| APV codec | Hardware support | Not supported |
| 5G modem | Qualcomm X105 | Qualcomm X105 |
| Peak download | Up to 14.8Gbps | Up to 14.8Gbps |
| Wi-Fi | FastConnect 8800, up to 11.6Gbps | FastConnect 8800, up to 11.6Gbps |
The standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is positioned as the chip that will power most of the upcoming flagship Android phones. The Extreme version sits above it with additional hardware for demanding gaming, AI and video workloads.
Qualcomm has redesigned the Adreno GPU for the new chips. The Extreme model adds dedicated Adreno Matrix Cores that can handle AI workloads alongside traditional graphics processing. It also introduces Adreno Neural Fusion. The technology combines the GPU’s AI hardware with graphics processing for features such as AI super resolution and frame generation.
Qualcomm claims the Extreme model delivers up to 44% higher graphics performance than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, while improving GPU power efficiency by up to 40%.
The Extreme model also has 18MB of dedicated Adreno High Performance Memory. Qualcomm says this helps keep frequently used graphics data closer to the GPU.
Neural Fusion can reduce rendering power consumption by up to 40% in supported games, according to Qualcomm.
The graphics platform has support for Unreal Engine, Unity and NetEase’s Messiah engine. Qualcomm has also highlighted upcoming games including Honkai: Star Rail, Monster Hunter Outlanders and Neverness to Everness.
The standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 also gets the new Adreno architecture, but without the Extreme model’s dedicated Matrix Cores, Neural Fusion and 18MB High Performance Memory.
AI is another major focus this year. The new Hexagon NPU has a dedicated Element Accelerator designed for transformer workloads. Qualcomm has also increased shared memory to keep more AI model data close to the NPU.
On the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, Qualcomm claims up to 14% higher NPU performance and 20% better AI performance per watt compared with the previous generation.
The Extreme model goes further. It gets 50% more shared NPU memory and can run Mixture of Experts models with more than 30 billion parameters directly on the phone.
This could allow future phones to handle more complex AI tasks locally without sending as much data to the cloud. Qualcomm is also targeting longer context windows for on-device AI applications.
The Snapdragon Sensing Hub has also been upgraded with dual micro NPUs and always-sensing ISPs. Qualcomm says the new micro NPUs provide an 85% increase in compute performance while improving efficiency by 20%.
One example is Personal Scribe, an on-device feature that can use messages, emails and conversations to create a private local knowledge graph.
The new Spectra AI-ISP adds more advanced per-pixel processing through what Qualcomm calls Intelligent Pixel Control.
The Extreme model supports 8K video recording at 60fps and 4K slow-motion recording at 240fps. It also supports hardware-level recording using the Advanced Professional Video codec. The platform includes the Elite Color Engine with real-time 3D LUT support and hardware decoding for VVC, also known as H.266.
The standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 also gets Intelligent Pixel Control and the new imaging architecture, but some of the highest-end video features remain exclusive to the Extreme model.
Both processors use Qualcomm’s new X105 5G Modem-RF system. Qualcomm says it can reach download speeds of up to 14.8Gbps and upload speeds of up to 4.2Gbps under supported network conditions.
The modem is designed for 3GPP Release 19 and supports six-antenna smartphone configurations.
It also adds satellite connectivity support for both narrowband NTN messaging and higher-bandwidth NTN connections for voice, data and video.
For local connectivity, both chips use the FastConnect 8800 system. It supports peak speeds of up to 11.6Gbps and a 4×4 Wi-Fi configuration. The platform is also designed with future Wi-Fi 8 support in mind.
Bluetooth 6.0, UWB and Thread are also supported.
Qualcomm says smartphones powered by both the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 will start launching globally in the coming weeks.
The two-chip strategy gives smartphone manufacturers more flexibility. The standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is aimed at flagship phones that need high performance without all the additional hardware of the Extreme model. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is designed for the highest-end devices, where manufacturers can take advantage of its additional GPU memory, AI hardware and advanced video capabilities.
Qualcomm has therefore moved from a single top-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite platform to two flagship levels this year. The difference should become more visible as the first phones using both chips reach the market.
