Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: a huge leap forward

Qualcomm has lifted the covers from its latest silicon targeted at top-of-the-line mobile hardware heading into 2025. And it seems the company is not pulling any punches this time around. The focus is evident right from the name — Snapdragon 8 Elite.

The company is eschewing the typical “Gen” naming convention for this one, and fittingly, has served some noticeable upgrades that will definitely put the likes of MediaTek and Apple on a competitive alert. But just how big of a leap does the Snapdragon 8 Elite offer over its predecessor?

We stacked the Elite against the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and highlighted all the meaningful differences to help you discern whether an upgrade would be a meaningful choice.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: specs

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: CPU

Qualcomm is once again reimagining the CPU architecture for its latest silicon. The most notable change is the switch to TSMC’s 3-nanometer process node for the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Its predecessor, on the other hand, was based on the 4nm process node.

Now, the inherent fabrication node shift isn’t exactly a day-and-night upgrade, but the theoretical benefits in terms of raw performance gain and energy efficiency are still very much there. Plus, the work Qualcomm has done with further optimizing the CPU and GPU cores is worth a look this time around.

The Snapdragon Elite marks the debut of Qualcomm’s Oryon cores for the mobile platform. Oryon began with Qualcomm’s renewed foray into the world of Arm processors destined for Windows laptops.

The first-gen Oryon cores were custom-designed and based on the 4nm process, and eventually made their way to the market with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and the X Plus processors, powering the new breed of AI PCs.

Qualcomm is definitely making a bold statement here by trickling down the same silicon DNA to the mobile platform. The gains are evident. The prime Oryon core inside the Snapdragon 8 Elite offers a peak clock speed of 4.32 GHz. In comparison, the Kryo core inside its predecessor could only reach a peak frequency of 3.4 GHz.

This is the second-generation Oryon core we are talking about here. As far as generation-over-generation performance gains are concerned, Qualcomm is touting a massive boost worth 45% for raw CPU firepower. Notably, the company is also claiming an identical leap in power efficiency.

Qualcomm adds that owing to the lower energy uptake, users can enjoy an extra 2.5 hours of gaming time on their mobile devices. In addition to the faster Oryon prime core, the performance cores aboard the Snapdragon 8 Elite are also faster, touting a peak clock speed of 3.53GHz, compared to the 3.2GHz frequency maxima for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: GPU

With the Snapdragon 8 Elite, Qualcomm is not only pushing the envelope with CPU performance but also the graphics output. To that end, the company has armed its latest and greatest with the “first-ever Adreno GPU with sliced architecture.”

Notably, the GPU enhancements fall in the same ballpark as the CPU improvements. The next-gen graphics engine delivers 40% higher performance compared to its previous-gen counterpart, one of the biggest leaps we have seen on a mobile processor in the past few years.

Now, one would obviously think that such a leap would be an absolute energy hog. Well, Qualcomm says the graphics engine aboard the Snapdragon 8 Elite is not only beefier but it also lifts the energy efficiency by a staggering 40%, matching the gain promised for the raw performance output.

So, what’s the secret sauce here? Qualcomm credits the GPU output upgrades, at least in terms of real-world gaming performance, to the sliced architecture. This is also the first time that Unreal’s Nanite graphics system is making its way to mobile devices.

Specifically, we are talking about Unreal Engine (v5.3) Nanite here, which is the next-gen virtualized geometry system that relies on fresh internal mesh and next-gen rendering technology. The benefits are extra details in visual assets, reduced workload on the graphics engine, and higher rendering efficiency.

In a nutshell, games will look more realistic, or as Qualcomm puts it, “film-quality 3D environments for total immersion.” If you aim to dig into the benefits of Unreal’s Nanite system, you can find a resource page from Unreal here, and how it is implemented in this Epic developer guide.

The Adreno GPU aboard the Snapdragon 8 Elite also supports the Unreal Chaos Physics Engine, which is touted to serve hyper-realistic frames and visuals in games. Technically, this is a physics simulation engine that was developed in collaboration with Intel and has already been implemented in games such as Fortnite.

The Adreno Frame Motion tech has been upgraded to version 2.1 on the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Qualcomm hasn’t said much about the games that are drawing the benefits of these Unreal enhancements, but it would be interesting to see how they push the limits of gaming on mobile platforms.

A comparison with Apple is also inevitable, especially in the purview of the progress Apple has made with Metal architecture to push AAA games such as Death Stranding and Resident Evil: Village on the iPhone and iPad.

We will update this story as game developers announce the work they’ve done in partnership with Qualcomm to refine the gaming experience on mobile devices powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite silicon.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: camera

In addition to the expected CPU and GPU enhancements, the Snapdragon 8 Elite also stretches the boundaries of what mobile cameras can accomplish, thanks to support from AI. On the Snapdragon 8 Elite, Qualcomm is pushing a triple 18-bit AI ISP, a major shift from the Cognitive ISP shipping aboard the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC.

Thanks to the updated ISP format, there are upgrades in line for image as well as video capture. The most notable upgrade is support for limitless (technically, a peak of 250) layers toward semantic segmentation, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s ISP was limited to 12 layers.

This could prove to be a game-changer. To start, segmentation is essentially the ISP’s ability to identify objects in a frame, like a person, an animal, faces, foliage, texture, ground, sky, body parts, inanimate objects, skin tone characteristics, and more.

The core idea here is that based on the object identified in a frame, the algorithmic changes pertaining to color chemistry, bokeh effect, highlights, and shadows are accordingly applied. In a nutshell, it tunes the entire image to deliver the most accurate output, by adjusting variables such as blur, subject separation, and more.

Moreover, since the ISP has a more granular understanding of the objects in a frame, it will also theoretically be able to offer a more accurate and diverse set of beautification and artistic filters.

So far, the image signal processors, even on Qualcomm’s flagship mobile processors have been limited to 12 layers at best, as is the case with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. With the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the camera system can perform limitless layers of segmentation, taking the accuracy and sheer quality of images and videos to the next level.

The ISP also offloads some of the Multi-Frame Noise Reduction tasks to AI, which also helps with noise reduction in 4K, 60 frames per second (fps) videos captured in ultra-low light situations. This is yet another massive upgrade for camera enthusiasts.

So far, the bespoke night mode in camera apps has only worked wonders for stills, but not videos, primarily because the pipeline is way too heavy and demanding to apply the necessary corrections. According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s ISP will open new frontier for video capture even in extremely dark surroundings.

The peak resolution for slo-mo video capture has climbed from 720p (HD) to Full HD (1080p), capped at 480 fps frame rate. Another notable upgrade is support for native 8K HDR video playback at 60 fps.

On the image capture side of things, there are a few noteworthy changes. Phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite silicon will support up to 320-megapixel photo capture, making a leap from the 200MP limit on its predecessor.

With Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL) enabled, the ISP opens the doors for triple 48MP capture, up from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s limit of 36MP capture in identical format.

For mobile videography enthusiasts, there’s some good news. The next-gen ISP supports locally-powered AI skin and sky tone adjustments in real time, and that too, for 4K videos captured at 60 fps. This would shrink the barrier for mandatory color corrections and will also enable more accurate color reproduction in high-res videos.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: AI and other enhancements

A recurring theme across the update board for Snapdragon 8 Elite is AI. Qualcomm is, in fact, pushing it everywhere, from camera enhancements to connectivity improvements. At the center of those tweaks is the next-gen Hexagon NPU, which is said to be 45% faster and also delivers 45% higher performance per watt.

The new Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System is claimed to offer a meaningful 30% boost in location and positioning accuracy. The Qualcomm FastConnect 7900 Mobile Connectivity System, on the other hand, brings Wi-Fi 7 facility tagging alongside a 40% more frugal approach at energy uptake.

A key shift in the connectivity department is support for Bluetooth 6.0 standard on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is limited to Bluetooth 5.4 standard. On the audio output front, Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless tech will deliver the highest quality music listening experience ever.

Qualcomm further notes that the Snapdragon 8 Elite is also the first silicon that integrates UWB, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi into a single stack. This capability is targeted at proximity finding, or in simpler language, helping locate devices that have been misplaced. There are a few other helpful sides to this tech, such as door access tied to a higher level of security.

Of course, since we are discussing AI, the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s NPU would hog the attention. It enhances the token limit, which means on-device assistants will be able to process more complex and longer inputs. Support for on-device multi-modal AI assistants is here to stay, which means users will be able to execute complex tasks without having to rely on internet connectivity.

Additionally, a more capable on-device processing pipeline will also mean the responses will be quicker, aside from being safer compared to a cloud-tethered format.

Now, the gains are not merely theoretical in nature. Based on the benchmark figures provided by Qualcomm for a reference device running Snapdragon 8 Elite, and fresh tests conducted by Digital Trends, the performance claims pan out in real life, as well.

On Geekbench single and multi-core tests, we are looking at a performance gain worth over 33% in each scenario. The enhancements are particularly impressive in the graphics department.

In a test run, the Snapdragon 8 Elite outperformed its predecessor by an impressive margin of 46% on the intensive GFXBench Aztec Vulcan (High, 1440p) test. The AnTuTu benchmark tally is also roughly over 30% higher.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: final words

So far, brands like Realme and Xiaomi have already confirmed that the Snapdragon 8 Elite will power their next flagship smartphones. More names will soon follow suit.

But so far, from what we’ve seen on the pitch deck, the latest silicon from Qualcomm also seems like its best bet at disrupting the status quo of Apple’s A-series processors as the top dogs.

Digital Trends will soon have its hands on machines armed with the Snapdragon 8 Elite and will publish its detailed findings after comprehensive tests and performance analyses. Stay tuned for that!