We aren’t that far into 2025 yet and while we have already seen number of phones arrive on Qualcomm’s most recent flagship processor, there are still plenty more to come before the year is out. If you aren’t desperate for a new phone though, you might want to wait – especially if you’re looking for the most powerful Android smartphone out there.
Qualcomm announced its most recent chipset – the Snapdragon 8 Elite – during its Snapdragon Summit in October 2024 and you’ll find it in devices like the OnePlus 13 and a version of it in the Samsung Galaxy S25 series.
At least six months ahead of when the second generation of that platform is expected to be announced however, there’s already been a leak suggesting how much more powerful it could be compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite – and with that, how much more powerful next year’s flagship phones could be.
What is the Snapdragon 8 Elite benchmarking at?
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 has appeared on benchmarking app AnTuTu, spotted by Android Headlines with significant improvements in terms of performance, as well as a boost in clock speed for the new Adreno 840 GPU.
The benchmark shows a single-core score of 4,000 points for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2, compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s 3,200 points. The multi-core score meanwhile, hit 13,000 points for Gen 2, while the current chipset hits around 10,300 points. In terms of graphics, the upcoming Adreno 840 GPU is said to have a clock speed of 1.35Ghz compared to the current Adreno 830’s 1.1Ghz.
Overall, it’s claimed the benchmark results will result in an accumulated score of 3.8 million on AnTuTu, according to Digital Chat Station. That’s all just a bunch of numbers though, hey? Well, to give some perspective on what they all mean, the current fastest Android phone is thought to be the IQOO 13 that runs the Snapdragon 8 Elite and has a total score just under 2.7 million. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 then, could result in devices over 40 per cent more powerful in terms of benchmarks than the current platform.
Reports also claim the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 will feature a pair of second generation Oryon CPU cores, with two Prime cores and six Performance cores. It’s also claimed the platform could be built on a more advanced 3nm technology in a TSMC N3P process rather than the N3E process.
In other Qualcomm news, there’s also been a tease for an event in China that might reveal the Snapdragon 8s Elite, which would be a slightly reduced version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, expected to power some of the cheaper upcoming flagship-grade phones.
For now, take the benchmarks for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 with a pinch of salt, but it could show how much more advanced next year’s flagship Android phones will be. Qualcomm will likely unveil the platform around October during its Snapdragon Summit so watch this space.
