When it comes to flagship Android smartphones, Qualcomm rules the roost with its Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. At the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii this week, Qualcomm gave us our first look at the next generation, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
We also got to see what the future of CoPilot+ PCs will be like with the new Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme chipsets.
Let's dive into each to see how the next version will improve performance for smartphones and laptops.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: The world's fastest Mobile Chip
Qualcomm is making bold claims with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, calling it "the world's fastest mobile system-on-a-chip." At the heart of this processor is the 3rd Generation Qualcomm Oryon CPU, which Qualcomm says is the fastest mobile CPU ever created.
The performance improvements are substantial across the board. The new Oryon CPU delivers a 20% performance boost over the previous generation, while the redesigned Adreno GPU architecture provides a 23% improvement in graphics performance, which is great news for mobile gamers. The Hexagon NPU, responsible for AI processing, sees an even more impressive 37% performance increase.
Beyond raw performance, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 introduces several breakthrough features. The chip enables personalised AI assistants that can take actions across apps while keeping user data on-device through continuous learning and real-time sensing. For content creators, this is the world's first mobile platform to support Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec recording, bringing studio-grade video capabilities to smartphones.
The new processor will appear in flagship devices from major manufacturers including Honor, iQOO, OnePlus, OPPO, Samsung, Sony, Xiaomi, and others, with new devices set to be announced in the coming days.
Most of those brands don't really offer products in Australia, though, so we may have to wait for the next generation of Samsung Galaxy S phones to see it in action properly.
Snapdragon X2 Elite Series: Better Windows PC performance
On the PC side, Qualcomm announced two new processors designed to challenge Intel and AMD's dominance in the laptop market: the Snapdragon X2 Elite and the more powerful X2 Elite Extreme.
The standard X2 Elite is positioned for premium Windows PCs, offering up to 31% faster performance at the same power consumption while requiring up to 43% less power than the previous generation. This efficiency translates to multi-day battery life even during resource-intensive tasks.
The X2 Elite Extreme takes things further, targeting ultra-premium PCs and professional workloads. Qualcomm claims it delivers up to 75% faster CPU performance than the competition at equivalent power levels. The chip is specifically designed for demanding tasks like data analytics, professional media editing, and scientific research—all while maintaining the thin and light form factors that modern users expect.
Both processors feature the same 3rd Generation Qualcomm Oryon CPU architecture found in the mobile chip, along with a new Adreno GPU that offers 2.3x better performance per watt compared to the previous generation. Perhaps most importantly for the era of AI PCs, both chips include an 80 TOPS Hexagon NPU, which Qualcomm says is the world's fastest NPU for laptops.
This AI processing power is crucial for Copilot+ PC experiences and enables concurrent AI tasks without impacting system performance. The processors are designed to handle these AI workloads whether the laptop is plugged in or running on battery power.
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