Qualcomm Announces the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Chipset: Features, Specifications

Qualcomm has expanded its mobile chipset lineup with the introduction of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, a model positioned below the more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 but still offering notable gains over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The new chipset aims to bring many of Qualcomm's latest performance and efficiency improvements to devices that may not adopt the Elite tier. With upgraded CPU, GPU, AI processing, and connectivity capabilities, the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is expected to be a strong option for upcoming "flagship-killer" smartphones.

Qualcomm Announces the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Chipset

Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, a new addition to its 8-series mobile platforms. The chipset sits below the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 but carries many of the same design ideas at lower clock speeds. It is built on a 3nm process and uses Qualcomm's latest Oryon CPU architecture with two prime cores at 3.8GHz and six performance cores at 3.32GHz.

According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 delivers a 36 percent improvement in CPU performance and an 11 percent improvement in GPU performance compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 from 2023. The company also reports 46 percent faster AI performance and 13 percent overall efficiency gains. The chip includes the Adreno 840 GPU with support for Frame Motion Engine 3.0, but does not include Adreno High-Performance Memory.

The new Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 platform integrates the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System, which supports mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G with peak download speeds of up to 10Gbps and uplink speeds of up to 3.5Gbps. Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Ultra Wideband support are also included through the FastConnect 7900 system. Storage support is limited to UFS 4.0, unlike the Elite model, which supports UFS 4.1.

For imaging, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 uses a triple-20-bit Spectra AI ISP with features such as Night Vision 3.0 for low-light video at 60fps, real-time tone control, and HDR audio recording through Snapdragon Audio Sense. The chipset supports up to a 320-megapixel single camera and 4K video capture at 120fps, with playback up to 8K at 60fps.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SoC is equipped with Qualcomm's Hexagon NPU, which is claimed to offer a 46 percent boost in AI workloads and supports multimodal on-device AI tasks. The Sensing Hub can activate the assistant through motion detection, such as lifting the phone.

Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will appear first in devices from OnePlus, beginning with the OnePlus Ace 15R. Upcoming models from iQOO, Motorola, Vivo, and other brands are also expected to use the new chip in the coming weeks.