Qualcomm has revamped its mobile chipset line-up again, announcing the Snapdragon 8 Elite as its latest high-end smartphone chip. This new SoC (system on chip) introduces upgraded hardware and leans heavily into artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance user experiences. If you're looking for more speed and better performance on your smartphone, the Snapdragon 8 Elite promises to deliver just that.
Qualcomm's new mobile chip takes inspiration from its “Elite” branding used for laptop processors. The 8 Elite sports a second-generation Oryon CPU at its core. Unlike its predecessors, this chip is built for faster, more efficient computing and a superior mobile experience.
Oryon CPU replaces Kryo for better performance
The Snapdragon 8 Elite features Qualcomm's Oryon CPU, replacing the Kryo CPUs found in previous Snapdragon chips. Although the name might sound familiar from Qualcomm's laptop chips, the 8 Elite's Oryon CPU is a new, second-generation chipset explicitly designed for smartphones. It includes two high-power prime cores and six performance cores aimed at delivering desktop-level performance on your mobile device.
Qualcomm has also upgraded the 5G modem and GPU. The chip has an X80 5G modem-RF system, ensuring faster mobile internet speeds. Meanwhile, the Adreno GPU has been given a fresh, sliced architecture, with dedicated memory allocated to each slice to boost gaming and graphics performance. Whether you're browsing websites that aren't mobile-optimised or playing resource-heavy games, Qualcomm's SVP of Mobile Handsets, Chris Patrick, assures users will notice faster and smoother experiences.
“With this new hardware, your phone will feel like a desktop in terms of speed and responsiveness,” Patrick said. He added that tasks that previously felt slow or clunky will now become seamless, thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite's capabilities. Whether navigating a poorly optimised website or running a demanding game, the improved hardware allows the chipset to work quietly in the background. At the same time, you enjoy a smoother, more intuitive experience.
Enhanced AI features and on-device tools
2024 is the year AI takes centre stage in mobile technology, and Qualcomm isn't missing the opportunity. The Snapdragon 8 Elite has enhanced AI capabilities thanks to an upgraded Hexagon NPU (neural processing unit). This NPU allows smartphones to run multimodal AI assistants on the device, meaning they can handle text and visual inputs more effectively. One standout feature is an AI-powered video object eraser tool that can remove unwanted distractions from your video clips, such as photobombers or cluttered backgrounds.
While it may sound almost too good to be true, this video object eraser tool could change how we edit videos directly on our phones. Once an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) incorporates it into a device, we will know how effective it will be. Still, speculation is already brewing about Samsung potentially using this feature in its upcoming Galaxy S25, which is expected next year.
Snapdragon 8 Elite set to launch in new devices soon
Although Samsung's Galaxy S25 might still be months away, Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite won't wait long to debut. According to Qualcomm, smartphone brands such as Asus, Honor, OnePlus, Oppo, and Xiaomi are already preparing to launch devices powered by the new chipset in the coming weeks. These early adopters will give us our first look at how the Snapdragon 8 Elite performs in real-world use cases.
As we head into 2024, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is poised to be a game-changer for high-end smartphones. With promises of better performance, more advanced AI features, and smoother experiences, this new chip will likely be a key selling point for flagship devices from some of the biggest smartphone brands.
