Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vs Apple A-Series vs Dimensity 9400: 3nm Flagship Chip Battle Royale
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vs Apple A-Series vs Dimensity 9400: 3nm Flagship Chip Battle Royale

by
15 September 2025
  • Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 debuts as a 3nm powerhouse with custom Oryon CPU cores, skipping “Gen 4” in name to mark the fifth generation of Snapdragon 8-series chips androidauthority.com. It promises major leaps in performance and efficiency over its predecessors.
  • 45% faster CPU performance (single & multi-core) and 40% faster GPU are touted over the last-gen chip 9to5google.com 9to5google.com, thanks to a new 2×6 core Oryon design on TSMC’s refined N3P 3nm node. Early leaks show it outpacing Qualcomm’s previous Snapdragon 8 Elite and even challenging Apple’s latest A-series in benchmarks wccftech.com theverge.com.
  • AI and ML get a huge boost: a revamped Hexagon NPU delivers up to 100 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of AI performance wccftech.com, enabling on-device generative AI and camera feats like real-time object erasing in 4K video 9to5google.com. Qualcomm’s AI engine now spans CPU, GPU, NPU, and ISP to accelerate features like LLMs and advanced image processing directly on the phone.
  • No more “little” cores – all performance cores: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 follows a trend started by its predecessor by eliminating low-power cores entirely 9to5google.com. Its 8 custom cores (2 prime + 6 performance) can hit ≈4.7 GHz on the top bin wccftech.com, delivering massive multi-core muscle while using similar power to last year’s model wccftech.com. Efficiency is enhanced through features like “instant wake” to minimize idle power draw 9to5google.com and the advanced 3nm process.
  • Adreno GPU and gaming upgrades: A new Adreno 840 GPU drives the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, with higher clocks (1.20 GHz vs 1.10 GHz prior) wccftech.com and a “sliced” multi-tier architecture. It boasts 35% better ray tracing and console-quality graphics, outpacing even Apple’s GPUs in some metrics 9to5google.com gadgets.beebom.com. Expect higher frame rates and longer play sessions – Qualcomm cites 2.5 extra hours of gaming on a charge thanks to 40% GPU power savings 9to5google.com.
  • 5G, connectivity and multimedia: It packs Qualcomm’s cutting-edge X-series modem (up to 10 Gbps 5G downloads) with global band support notebookcheck.net, likely the Snapdragon X80 with dual 5G (mmWave + sub-6) concurrency. Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4/6 are on board for next-gen wireless speeds notebookcheck.net gadgets.beebom.com. The Spectra ISP supports up to 320 MP photos and 8K HDR video at 60 fps gadgets.beebom.com, leveraging AI for features like Ultra HDR, semantic segmentation (tagging up to 12+ layers in an image), and authenticating real vs AI-generated content notebookcheck.net 9to5google.com.
  • Comparisons: Versus earlier Snapdragon 8 chips (Gen 1–Gen 3), the Gen 5 delivers generational gains in CPU (from new core microarchitecture and higher clocks) and GPU (Adreno’s lead widens), while vastly improving efficiency over the heat-prone 8 Gen 1. It also marks Qualcomm’s full return to custom CPU design after years on ARM’s stock cores, closing the gap with Apple’s A17 Pro/A18 chips in single-core speed and leapfrogging in multi-core throughput androidauthority.com wccftech.com. Against MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300/9400, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 offers a more balanced approach – comparable brute CPU performance but with superior sustained output (less throttling) and a stronger GPU+ray tracing advantage androidauthority.com androidauthority.com.
  • Coming to 2025 flagships: Xiaomi has confirmed its Xiaomi 17 series will skip a generation number to launch with Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, directly pitting it against Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup androidauthority.com. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 is also slated to use a special “Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy” edition androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo, ASUS ROG, and others are expected to follow in early 2026, ensuring Qualcomm’s new chip powers the majority of next-gen Android flagships worldwide 9to5google.com theverge.com.

Introduction: Qualcomm’s 5th-Gen Snapdragon 8 – A Leap in Branding and Power

Qualcomm has officially named its next flagship mobile processor the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, marking a new chapter for its premium Snapdragon lineup androidauthority.com. This naming is a departure from the expected “Gen 4” moniker – a change Qualcomm explains is meant to simplify its roadmap and align with the fact that this is the fifth generation of Snapdragon 8-series chips (after Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 3, and last year’s Snapdragon 8 “Elite” which effectively served as Gen 4) androidauthority.com. By jumping to “Gen 5,” Qualcomm avoids the unlucky number 4 and reinforces that this is a major generational upgrade rather than a minor iterative step androidauthority.com theverge.com.

Announced ahead of the late-2025 Snapdragon Summit, the 8 Elite Gen 5 arrives with big expectations. It succeeds the 2024 Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4 in spirit) that introduced the “Elite” tier and delivered unprecedented performance gains with Qualcomm’s first custom CPU cores wccftech.com 9to5google.com. The new Gen 5 model builds on that foundation with refined 3nm silicon, higher clock speeds, more cache, and further integration of Qualcomm’s in-house technologies. In Qualcomm’s words, “Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 marks the fifth generation of our premium 8‑series platforms…reinforcing its leadership position and simplifying how consumers understand our product roadmap.” androidauthority.com

This chipset is poised to power the next wave of Android flagships in 2025–2026. Xiaomi has already confirmed its upcoming Xiaomi 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max phones will debut with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, skipping the “16” to align with Apple’s iPhone 17 naming androidauthority.com. Samsung is expected to use a custom-tuned version for its Galaxy S26 series (branded “for Galaxy”), continuing the partnership that saw Snapdragon chips in all Galaxy S24/S25 devices androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. Other major OEMs like OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, iQOO, ASUS ROG, and more are lining up their 2025–26 flagships with this chip as well 9to5google.com. In short, Qualcomm’s new silicon will be the heartbeat of most top-end Android phones in the coming year.

Below, we’ll dive deep into how the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 stacks up against both its predecessors (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 through Gen 3/Elite) and its key rivals: Apple’s A17 Pro/A18 chips and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300/9400 series. We’ll compare their performance, AI capabilities, efficiency, gaming features, connectivity, camera prowess, manufacturing process, and more – complete with expert commentary and the latest data as of September 2025.

CPU Performance: Custom Oryon Cores Take on Apple and Arm’s Best

At the heart of Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU architecture, marking the second generation of Qualcomm’s in-house core design optimized for smartphones 9to5google.com. Unlike earlier Snapdragon 8 chips that used standard ARM Cortex cores (e.g. Cortex-X1/X2/X3 in Gen 1–3), the Gen 5 employs fully custom 64-bit cores born from Qualcomm’s Nuvia acquisition. The CPU cluster configuration is unlike any previous Snapdragon: it features 8 high-performance cores with no “little” cores at all. Specifically, it packs 2 Prime cores clocked up to ~4.6–4.7 GHz and 6 Performance cores around ~3.6 GHz wccftech.com. Qualcomm deliberately dropped the low-power Cortex-A5xx cores, arguing that modern performance cores are efficient enough at low frequency to handle background tasks – a trend it started in the past two generations 9to5google.com. (For context, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 had a 1+5+2 design – one X4 prime, five A720 performance, two A520 efficiency cores notebookcheck.net – while Gen 2 had 1+4+3. Now, Gen 5 is a pure 2+6 performance core setup.)

This aggressive “all-big-core” approach mirrors what MediaTek pioneered with the Dimensity 9300, which also forwent little cores in favor of a 4+4 big core design. However, Qualcomm’s implementation is different: the Oryon cores are custom-tailored for high IPC (instructions per cycle) and power management, and the cluster has been lavishly provisioned with cache. Snapdragon 8 Elite (last year’s model) already had 24 MB of cache (12 MB L2 per cluster) to feed its cores 9to5google.com. The Gen 5 reportedly bumps this to 32 MB combined cache, giving the 2 Prime + 6 Performance cores plenty of fast local memory to reduce expensive DRAM access wccftech.com.

Early benchmarks indicate huge CPU performance gains. Qualcomm claims around +45% uplift in single-core and multi-core performance over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 9to5google.com. This is on top of the previous Elite’s gains – for reference, the 2024 Snapdragon 8 Elite was already ~45% faster than Gen 3 in CPU tests 9to5google.com. Together, the move to Oryon cores and higher clocks on 3nm have catapulted Snapdragon’s CPU into the same league as Apple’s vaunted A-series. In fact, in leaked Geekbench 6 scores, an engineering sample of the 8 Elite Gen 5 (even when underclocked to ~4.0 GHz) managed to match or beat the Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4) in both single and multi-core wccftech.com. At full clocks, we can expect it to set new records for Android devices. Qualcomm’s own PC-class Snapdragon X Elite chip (for laptops) demonstrated Oryon’s potential by outperforming some Intel Core i7 CPUs, so the smartphone-tuned variant is highly anticipated.

Apple’s CPUs still hold a lead in certain aspects, especially single-threaded performance, but the gap is closing. Last year’s Apple A17 Pro (3 nm) outpaced all Android chips in Geekbench, with an average of ~2,900 single-core and ~7,200 multi-core in Geekbench 6 macrumors.com. The new Apple A18 Pro in the iPhone 16 Pro (TSMC N3E) pushed this further to ~3,400 single and ~8,500 multi macrumors.com – roughly an 18% CPU gain year-on-year macrumors.com macrumors.com. Apple thus proclaimed it still has “the fastest CPU in any smartphone” as of late 2024 macrumors.com. However, Qualcomm’s Gen 5 may challenge that claim. With two high-clocked primes and eight total cores vs Apple’s 6-core (2+4) design, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is likely to surpass Apple in multi-core throughput, even if Apple’s per-core advantage remains. Industry observers note that earlier in 2024, Apple’s A17 Pro beat both the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Dimensity 9300 in CPU tests – especially in single-core where Apple’s lead was “particularly massive” androidauthority.com. But with the Oryon cores, Snapdragon is set to narrow that single-core gap substantially (potentially reaching ~3,300–3,500 in Geekbench, almost on par with A18), while overtaking in multi-core thanks to more cores. Indeed, The Verge reported that Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is “poised to rival Apple’s new A19 Pro chipset” in performance theverge.com, a bold feat for an Android SoC.

On the MediaTek front, the Dimensity 9300 and upcoming Dimensity 9400 also adopted novel CPU configurations to boost performance. The 4 nm Dimensity 9300 featured four Cortex-X4 “mega cores” + four Cortex-A720 cores – an unprecedented 4× Cortex-X4 setup androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. However, three of those X4 cores ran at lower 2.85 GHz clocks (only one prime at 3.25 GHz), and the A720 quartet was capped around 2.0 GHz phonearena.com. As a result, in real-world benchmarks, the 9300 was on par with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in CPU – trading blows for second place behind Apple’s A17 Pro androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. MediaTek’s chip edged out the Snapdragon in multi-core by a small margin, while Snapdragon had a slight lead in single-core androidauthority.com. It wasn’t the runaway victory one might expect from “4 X4 cores,” partly because Qualcomm’s core design and caching mitigated MediaTek’s core-count advantage androidauthority.com. MediaTek doubled down with the Dimensity 9400, moving to TSMC 3 nm (N3E) and updating the prime core to the next-gen Cortex-X5 at 3.4 GHz, while keeping 3× X4 at ~2.96 GHz and 4× A720 at ~2.27 GHz tweakreviews.com. The 9400 claims a 30% performance uplift over the 9300 tweakreviews.com. That will put it in the same ballpark as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 in raw CPU output – though Snapdragon’s custom Oryon cores could still offer an edge in efficiency and sustained speeds. It’s telling that Qualcomm’s Oryon Prime core is reportedly comparable to ARM’s Cortex-X5 (used by MediaTek) in peak performance, while the Oryon medium cores are likewise formidable (one analysis even noted the Oryon-L core in Snapdragon 8 Elite was on par with a Cortex-X4/X5, and the Oryon-M cores akin to high-clocked A720s) reddit.com. In short, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 and Dimensity 9400 represent two different approaches to an all-big-core CPU – one with fully custom cores and higher clocks, the other with brute-force ARM cores – but both will deliver a multi-core punch well above 2024’s chips.

One concern with all-big-core designs is heat and throttling. Here, Qualcomm’s efficiency refinements may shine. The Gen 5 uses an advanced 3 nm N3P node (more on that later) and includes an “instant wake” feature in its cores to avoid wasting energy when intermittently idling 9to5google.com. Essentially, hardware state is maintained so a core can wake and execute the next instruction immediately, rather than performing a slow power-up sequence 9to5google.com. This helps minimize the overhead of frequent task switching, improving efficiency for bursty workloads common in mobile. Qualcomm also claims substantial generational gains in perf-per-watt: the 8 Elite (Gen 4) CPU was 44% more power efficient than the Gen 3 9to5google.com, and Gen 5 should extend that trend (especially with the process shrink). In sustained CPU throttling tests, the Snapdragon 8 Elite showed good stability (~73% retained performance after 15 minutes) with no abrupt drops gadgets.beebom.com gadgets.beebom.com. By contrast, MediaTek’s Dimensity 9300 in a Vivo device only held ~44% of its peak performance under extended stress, even falling behind an older Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phone’s sustained score androidauthority.com. This suggests Qualcomm’s thermal management and core scheduling were superior, likely due to the custom core design and perhaps better DVFS (dynamic voltage-frequency scaling). We can expect the Gen 5 to continue this pattern: strong sustained performance with controlled thermals, whereas MediaTek may push high peak numbers but risk throttling more over time androidauthority.com androidauthority.com.

In summary, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s CPU is a milestone for Android – it represents Qualcomm’s return to custom CPUs, and it’s set to compete head-on with Apple’s latest silicon. Multi-core performance will surge to new heights for Android, potentially overtaking Apple’s A18/A19 in that area, while single-core speeds narrow the once-large gap. As one tech review succinctly put it: “CPU testing shows that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Dimensity 9300 are very evenly matched… Apple’s A17 Pro still beats both… but [with Gen 5] imagine how far a chipset operating at its full potential could go.” androidauthority.com wccftech.com The Gen 5 is indeed operating at full potential, and it promises to trump its predecessors and rival chips in raw processing power.

Graphics and Gaming: Adreno 840 vs Apple GPU vs Mali-Immortalis

Mobile gaming and graphics performance are core strengths of Qualcomm’s flagship chips, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 continues that tradition with an upgraded Adreno GPU. While Qualcomm hasn’t rebranded the Adreno series, leaks identify this GPU as the Adreno 840, succeeding the Adreno 830 in the 8 Elite (Gen 4). It runs at a higher peak clock (approx 1.20 GHz by default, up from 1.10 GHz in the previous chip) wccftech.com, and it likely features architectural improvements building on the new “sliced” design introduced last year 9to5google.com 9to5google.com. The Adreno 830/840 architecture emphasizes parallelism and efficiency, essentially operating like multiple GPU slices that can scale workload and power usage more granularly.

Qualcomm claims the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5’s GPU offers 40% faster graphics rendering than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3’s Adreno 750, along with 35% higher ray tracing performance 9to5google.com 9to5google.com. Versus the immediate predecessor (Adreno 830), the gains are more incremental – roughly +10% in clocks plus any efficiency improvements. Even so, the Adreno 840 is poised to be the most powerful GPU in any smartphone at launch. In fact, the previous Adreno 830 already staked a claim as the top mobile GPU, with one analysis noting it “outranks even Apple’s GPU architecture” in power and efficiency gadgets.beebom.com. The new chip extends this lead.

Concrete benchmark results back up Adreno’s dominance. For instance, in 3DMark Wild Life GPU tests, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 phone (RedMagic 9 Pro) led the pack, beating the Apple A17 Pro’s iPhone and the Dimensity 9300’s Vivo in both peak and sustained scores androidauthority.com. The Gen 3 had about a 26% advantage in graphics score over Dimensity 9300’s Immortalis-G720 GPU, and even larger gains (~21%) in ray tracing-specific tests androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. The Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4) then improved GPU performance by another 40% over Gen 3 9to5google.com, putting it well ahead of Apple’s A17 Pro GPU. Qualcomm’s own figures indicated the Adreno 830 could achieve up to 2× faster ray tracing throughput than the Adreno 740 (Gen 2) and surpass ARM Mali GPUs that previously held an edge in early ray-tracing demos androidauthority.com. With the Gen 5’s Adreno 840, we’re looking at a slight bump beyond that – enough to comfortably handle the most demanding mobile games and even approach console/PC territory in some metrics.

Apple, of course, made headlines by introducing hardware ray tracing in its A17 Pro’s 6-core Apple GPU and showcasing console-quality games (like Resident Evil Village and Assassin’s Creed) on the iPhone 15 Pro. Apple’s GPU architecture is known for its raw talent – the A17 Pro’s GPU was roughly 20% faster than the A16’s, and the new A18 Pro’s GPU is another 20% faster than A17 Pro’s (plus boasting 2× faster ray tracing) en.wikipedia.org. In GFXBench and 3DMark tests, Apple’s A-series GPUs often traded blows with Adreno last year. However, the narrative seems to be shifting. Qualcomm’s tight integration of graphics drivers (with updateable GPU drivers), support for cutting-edge APIs (Vulkan, OpenGL ES), and features like variable rate shading (VRS), volumetric rendering, and AI-based upscaling (Snapdragon Game Super Resolution) have given Adreno an edge in real-world gaming scenarios. The Gen 5’s GPU can sustain high performance longer as well – aided by the chipset’s overall better thermal characteristics. Qualcomm cited that overall GPU power efficiency improved by 40% vs last gen 9to5google.com, meaning less throttling under load. Apple’s GPUs are extremely powerful but in a tightly constrained thermal envelope (especially in the fanless iPhone design, which led to some reports of the A17 Pro iPhones running hot when playing intensive 3D games). The Gen 5 in a gaming-oriented phone with proper cooling could likely run circles around an iPhone in prolonged gameplay sessions.

One specific area to highlight is ray tracing. Both Qualcomm and Apple now have ray accelerators in their GPUs to enable realistic lighting and reflections in games. Qualcomm first introduced hardware ray tracing in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (Adreno 740) and improved it in Gen 3. By Gen 5, Qualcomm claims another 35% jump in ray tracing performance 9to5google.com. In the 3DMark Solar Bay benchmark (which tests ray-traced graphics), the Snapdragon 8 Elite scored ~11,400 points at ~43 FPS gadgets.beebom.com, whereas Apple’s A17 Pro was around the high-8000s (roughly 30–35 FPS range) in the same test based on available data. The Gen 5 should push that even further, possibly breaking 50–60 FPS in ray-traced scenes on a high-end Android phone. This indicates Qualcomm is not only closing the gap but potentially overtaking Apple in GPU capabilities, at least in synthetic tests. The Immortalis-G720 (12-core Mali) in the Dimensity 9300 was competitive initially, but as Android Authority notes, “the Solar Bay ray tracing test shows an ~21% advantage for Qualcomm… an about-turn from early 2023 when Dimensity 9200 was the big winner in ray tracing benchmarks.” androidauthority.com MediaTek’s upcoming Dimensity 9400 will likely use a next-gen Immortalis GPU (possibly G730 or similar) on 3nm, but it remains to be seen if it can catch Adreno. MediaTek GPUs traditionally lag in efficiency, and the 9300’s GPU, while potent, throttled heavily (down to 44% stability in stress tests) compared to Snapdragon’s more moderate throttling androidauthority.com androidauthority.com.

Beyond raw performance, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 offers a host of gaming features under the Snapdragon Elite Gaming umbrella. This includes support for ultra-high refresh rates – the chip can drive QHD+ displays at up to 240 Hz now (up from 144 Hz) for devices that have ultra-fast screens 9to5google.com. It also supports 4K@60 Hz with HDR on-device, and external display output up to 4K/60. There’s likely continued support for technologies like HDR10 Gaming, Game Quick Touch (to reduce touch latency), and Bluetooth audio latency tweaks for gamers. Apple’s approach to gaming is different (fewer toggles for performance, but heavy optimization for its Metal API and exclusive game partnerships). Still, it’s notable that AAA game studios are now targeting mobile – Apple demoed console games on A17 Pro, and Qualcomm has partnered with companies like Tencent in the past to optimize games for Snapdragon. With Gen 5’s horsepower, we could see desktop-class games on Android as well, provided the software ecosystem catches up.

In summary, Adreno 840 cements Qualcomm’s GPU leadership in the mobile space. It delivers silky frame rates and advanced graphics features that will please enthusiasts and mobile gamers. It also helps differentiate Snapdragon devices from phones using rival SoCs: for example, a Vivo or Oppo flagship with Dimensity 9400 might offer similar CPU performance, but a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 phone will likely have superior GPU performance and more robust gaming stability androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. As one tech site quipped during the Gen 3 vs 9300 comparison, “the Snapdragon-toting phone showed a massive lead in GPU… there’s certainly a gulf” between it and the Dimensity device androidauthority.com. That gulf is only set to widen with the new generation.

AI and Machine Learning: Hexagon NPU vs Apple Neural Engine vs MediaTek APU

Artificial intelligence capabilities have become a centerpiece of modern chip design, and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 makes a big splash here. Qualcomm’s integrated AI engine – which encompasses the Hexagon NPU/DSP, the CPU (with specialized instructions), the GPU (for AI shaders), and even the ISP for vision tasks – has been significantly upgraded. Rumors and Qualcomm’s hints suggest the Hexagon NPU (Neural Processing Unit) now delivers around 100 TOPS of AI compute throughput wccftech.com. For context, the Snapdragon X Elite laptop chip’s NPU tops out at ~45 TOPS, and the previous Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4) smartphone chip likely did on the order of 27–50 TOPS. So 100 TOPS, if accurate, is a massive jump, putting it well ahead of most competitors in raw specs.

Even Apple, which designs excellent Neural Engines (the A17 Pro and A18 Pro both have a 16-core Neural Engine rated at 35 TOPS en.wikipedia.org), would be outgunned on paper. Apple didn’t increase TOPS from A17 to A18 (stayed at 35), instead focusing on efficiency – Apple claims A18 Pro’s neural tasks run ~15% faster than A17 Pro’s despite similar TOPS, thanks to architecture and software improvements en.wikipedia.org. But Qualcomm appears to be taking a brute-force and a holistic approach: brute-force in that 100 TOPS is nearly 3× Apple’s throughput, and holistic in that they leverage the CPU and GPU more in AI workflows. In fact, the new Oryon CPU cores support ARM’s Scalable Matrix Extension (SME) instructions androidauthority.com, which accelerate matrix multiplications for AI directly on the CPU. This is similar to how Apple’s CPUs have matrix ops (AMX blocks on M-series, etc.), and it means the CPU can assist the NPU for AI tasks or run certain models itself efficiently.

Qualcomm touts that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5’s AI engine is the first to enable multi-modal generative AI models running entirely on-device, with parameter counts in the trillions notebookcheck.net. In the Gen 3, they advertised running up to a 10 billion parameter model on-device, including things like Meta’s Llama 2 7B language model and stable diffusion image generation notebookcheck.net. Now, with Gen 5, those numbers are leaping an order of magnitude. We’re looking at the potential to run large language models, vision transformers, and speech recognition models locally without offloading to the cloud. Qualcomm has demonstrated AI features like on-device text-to-image generation, real-time translation, and personalized assistants using its AI engine in recent years, and Gen 5 will accelerate these dramatically.

One very tangible AI-driven feature is in the camera domain: the Gen 5’s AI-powered ISP enables things like real-time video object erasing – for example, you can record a 4K video and remove unwanted people/objects live at 30 FPS 9to5google.com. This uses AI segmentation and in-painting on the fly, something that would have been unthinkable on a phone a couple of years ago. It also can capture “vivid night mode” video in 4K 60 FPS, basically seeing in near darkness by leveraging AI-based denoising and exposure stacking 9to5google.com. Another futuristic feature is authenticity verification: through the Truepic platform and the C2PA standard, the chip can cryptographically tag photos, videos, and even audio to indicate they are original and not AI-faked – and conversely, it can analyze content to flag AI-generated media 9to5google.com. This kind of AI–ISP integration showcases Qualcomm’s strategy of blending AI with camera and sensor data for smarter outputs.

Apple’s approach to AI is a bit different. Apple heavily utilizes its Neural Engine for features like Face ID, computational photography (e.g. Photonic Engine pipeline in iPhones), on-device Siri processing, Live Text in images, etc. The A17 Pro and A18 Pro’s 35 TOPS engine is very capable, and Apple leverages its Core ML framework to optimize models for it. However, Apple tends not to hype TOPS and doesn’t (yet) market on-device generative AI features as aggressively. For example, while the A17 Pro could likely run a small LLM or do stable diffusion, Apple doesn’t expose that to users directly – those capabilities might come in future Vision Pro or macOS devices first. By contrast, Qualcomm, along with partners like Microsoft, have been more eager to demonstrate things like running Stable Diffusion image generation on a Snapdragon phone in a few seconds. With 100 TOPS and CPU SME support, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 could conceivably run a 70 billion parameter language model in a basic chat mode (quantized to int8 or int4) locally – a huge deal for privacy and offline use cases.

MediaTek, for its part, also includes AI processors called APU (AI Processing Unit) in the Dimensity chips. The Dimensity 9300’s APU was improved from the 9200, and the 9300+ further enhanced it, which Vivo highlighted with a demo of generative AI photo editing (changing the season of an image via AI on-device) phonearena.com. MediaTek’s AI performance figures aren’t always public, but the 9300+ hitting 2.3 million in AnTuTu likely includes a strong AI score contribution phonearena.com. The upcoming Dimensity 9400 will certainly boost AI as well – presumably supporting larger models and possibly incorporating some of ARM’s new AI instructions too. Still, Qualcomm has historically been ahead in AI frameworks (Hexagon’s accelerators for int8, int4 precision, etc., and software like the AI Model Efficiency Toolkit). The Gen 5 doubling down with 100 TOPS suggests Qualcomm intends to stay at the forefront of mobile AI.

An important nuance: TOPS (tera operations/sec) is a rough metric – efficiency and real-world performance depend on memory bandwidth and software. Qualcomm backs its NPU with ample memory bandwidth (the chip supports LPDDR5X RAM up to 24 GB at 8.5 Gbps+ speeds 9to5google.com, and likely features system cache for the NPU). They also support mixed precision computing: Gen 3 introduced INT4 support for AI, effectively doubling throughput for certain models at slight accuracy cost notebookcheck.net. Gen 5 presumably continues this, meaning that 100 TOPS could be in int4 ops; even in int8, it would be 50 TOPS which is still huge. Qualcomm says the Hexagon NPU in Gen 4 was 45% faster and 45% more efficient than Gen 3 9to5google.com, and we expect similar or greater jumps in Gen 5.

In practical terms, what new AI experiences can users expect? Some possibilities: Advanced personal assistants that run entirely on-device (answering questions from local data without internet), AI-driven camera filters and video effects applied live, speech-to-speech translation that converts your voice to another language in real time, more sophisticated AI in games (NPC behaviors, AI upscaling of graphics), and enhanced predictive device behavior (like predicting your actions or arranging your apps via AI). Qualcomm is also big on XR (extended reality); the AI engine will help things like AR object recognition and hand tracking on AR glasses tethered to the phone.

To sum up, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vaults ahead in the AI race. It combines a very high-throughput NPU with synergy across CPU/GPU/ISP. Apple’s A17/A18 Pro still offer a balanced and tightly integrated AI performance (and Apple uses the Neural Engine efficiently for their ecosystem features), but in terms of raw capability, the Snapdragon may now hold the crown. As evidence, note that Apple’s Neural Engine has remained at 35 TOPS since 2023 en.wikipedia.org, while Qualcomm’s has seemingly blown past that. MediaTek is improving its APUs as well, but without detailed specs, it’s hard to compare – it’s safe to say the Dimensity 9400 will be competitive, but likely not a match for 100 TOPS if that pans out.

One expert commentary in a WCCFTech roundup marveled that the smartphone Snapdragon 8 Gen 5’s NPU might be “more than twice as fast as a notebook-class silicon”, referring to the PC-oriented Snapdragon X Elite’s 45 TOPS wccftech.com. That underscores just how far mobile AI silicon has come. Our phones are quickly becoming AI workhorses, capable of doing on-device what once required cloud datacenters – and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is at the bleeding edge of that shift.

Power Efficiency and Thermal Management

Packing more performance into a mobile chipset is pointless if it burns through battery or overheats in minutes. Qualcomm has made power efficiency a top priority generation-over-generation, and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 continues that focus despite its higher performance.

The move to TSMC’s 3 nm N3P process is one key factor. N3P is a refined third-generation 3 nm node that offers modest gains over the N3E process used in chips like the Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4) and Apple A18. Specifically, TSMC claims N3P can deliver about 5% higher speed at the same power, or 5–10% power reduction at the same performance, compared to N3E wccftech.com. This isn’t a revolutionary jump, but it’s a solid improvement – essentially giving Qualcomm a bit more headroom to dial up clocks or save battery. The Gen 5 is still on “3 nm class” silicon; the true next node (2 nm) won’t arrive until perhaps late 2026 for mobile chips, according to Qualcomm’s roadmap wccftech.com. So in 2025, everyone (Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek) is on 3 nm, and efficiency gains must come from architecture and design choices as much as from the fab process.

Qualcomm’s elimination of separate efficiency cores might sound counterintuitive for power savings, but it reflects a shift in strategy: use fewer, more efficient big cores at low utilization rather than many tiny cores. In the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 era (2022), the chip had 4 little Cortex-A510 cores – but that chip on Samsung’s 4 nm node suffered thermal issues and battery drain. By Gen 3, Qualcomm had cut down to 2 little cores. Now by Gen 5, they’ve cut to 0, instead relying on the 6 performance cores to also scale down for background tasks. Qualcomm stated that “performance cores today offer the best combination of performance and power”, hence they removed the little cores as they “evolved with the technology” 9to5google.com. To make this viable, the Oryon cores likely have very good idle power characteristics and can operate at very low clock/voltage states efficiently. The “instant wake” feature we discussed helps by reducing the cost of ramping cores up and down frequently 9to5google.com. Net result: when your phone is doing something lightweight (checking email in background, etc.), a few of the 6 smaller Oryon cores might run at 800 MHz and handle it without significantly more draw than old tiny cores – and when you need performance, those cores can instantly turbo to 3+ GHz.

Another efficiency booster is the additional cache. By increasing L2/L3 cache to 32 MB wccftech.com, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 can keep more data on-chip close to the CPU/GPU. Every time the CPU has to fetch from slower DRAM, it uses more energy. The large cache benefits AI and high-performance tasks greatly, but also improves average power by reducing off-chip memory transactions.

According to Qualcomm, the prior Snapdragon 8 Elite achieved a 27% overall power savings compared to its predecessor 9to5google.com – a combination of ~40% less power for the GPU and ~44% less for CPU at equivalent performance points 9to5google.com. This translated to real battery life gains: for example, Qualcomm cited up to 2.5 hours longer gaming on the same battery due to the efficiency improvements 9to5google.com. The Gen 5, with N3P and further fine-tuning, likely brings additional (if smaller) efficiency gains. It’s plausible that in light-to-medium use, a phone with Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 could extend battery life a few extra hours compared to a Gen 3-based phone. Heavy use will still drain any battery fast, but you’ll get more performance per watt.

Managing thermals is also about intelligent scheduling. Qualcomm’s firmware and OEMs’ tuning will decide how to distribute tasks between the 2 Prime and 6 Performance cores for optimal efficiency. It wouldn’t be surprising if one of the Prime cores is used only in short bursts (or one is parked most of the time) to save power, unless needed. Likewise, the GPU can vary its slice usage – for simple UI rendering, only a fraction of the GPU may be active, whereas for 3D games, all “slices” fire up.

Apple’s efficiency story: The A17 Pro and A18 Pro, despite being super-fast, maintained decent efficiency through design – Apple’s two big + four small core approach is traditional, but Apple’s small cores (“efficiency cores”) are quite powerful in their own right and sip very little power at idle. Apple claimed the A18 Pro can deliver the A17 Pro’s performance at 20% lower power en.wikipedia.org, thanks to the move to 3 nm N3E and some design refinements. However, some reports indicated the A17 Pro iPhones initially ran hot under load (Apple addressed some of this with software updates). It shows that even Apple, with tight hardware-software integration, pushes the envelope to where thermals can spike. Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 devices, especially gaming-centric ones, often include advanced cooling (vapor chambers, even attachable fans on gaming phones), so they might sustain high performance longer without throttling.

MediaTek’s efficiency story: MediaTek boasted that Dimensity 9300 would use 50% less power than its predecessor despite the lack of little cores androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. That sounded optimistic, and indeed, in stress tests the 9300 throttled significantly androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. The new Dimensity 9400 on 3 nm likely improves efficiency with N3E and maybe better DVFS. But with 4 X-class cores, MediaTek’s design is inherently power-hungry when fully lit up. They might rely on software to not use all four X5 cores simultaneously for long. By contrast, Qualcomm’s 2+6 layout might be inherently easier to balance for sustained scenarios.

In everyday terms, users of Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 phones should expect better battery life at idle and moderate use (thanks to efficient core gating and lower base power) and less thermal throttling during intense use. The chip will heat up under heavy load (physics can’t be cheated), but likely it will manage clock speeds to maintain more consistent performance rather than swinging from very hot to cool. The removal of “hotspot” small cores (which sometimes complicated thermal spreading) might ironically make thermal design more straightforward – all cores are larger, but they share the load.

When not gaming or crunching AI, the Gen 5 can also leverage enhanced low-power islands like the always-on DSP/Sensing Hub. Qualcomm’s chips have separate low-power cores for things like listening for “Hey Google” or counting steps with minimal power. Those features continue, allowing the main CPU to stay asleep and save energy.

All told, while the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a performance beast, it’s engineered to be surprisingly frugal for the muscle it flexes. One might recall the jump from Snapdragon 888 (2021) to 8 Gen 1 (2022) was notorious for higher power usage, but since then Qualcomm has course-corrected. The 8 Gen 2 and Gen 3 improved efficiency greatly (especially by switching to TSMC), and the 8 Gen 5 looks to maintain that positive trajectory. Qualcomm even explicitly said that Gen 5’s power consumption is about the same as the Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 4) while doubling down on performance wccftech.com. In other words, you get a lot more speed without sipping more battery juice, which is exactly what users and OEMs want to hear.

Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, and More

Qualcomm practically synonymized its name with mobile connectivity leadership, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 carries the latest in cellular and wireless tech. It features a fully integrated Snapdragon X75 or X80 5G modem-RF system (Qualcomm hasn’t officially said, but documentation suggests the Snapdragon X80 in the Gen 4, so Gen 5 likely uses the same or a minor revision) gadgets.beebom.com. This modem supports 5G mmWave and sub-6GHz simultaneously (5G Dual Active) for maximum throughput. The peak theoretical download speed is 10 Gbps with the right network conditions, and up to ~3–3.5 Gbps uploads notebookcheck.net gadgets.beebom.com. While no consumer will see 10 Gbps on their phone in practice, these capabilities ensure the chip is fully ready for the latest 5G networks, including standalone 5G, carrier aggregation across more bands, and newer features like 5G NR-DC (dual connectivity).

One thing Qualcomm modems excel at is global band support and signal tuning. The modem in Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will support every commercial 5G band from low 600 MHz up to mmWave 39 GHz, with the ability to aggregate many channels for speed or use spectrum dynamically. It also likely includes Qualcomm’s AI-assisted antenna tuning introduced with X70, which uses AI algorithms to detect hand grip and usage patterns to optimize signal notebookcheck.net. This can translate to fewer dropped calls and better data rates in borderline conditions.

In comparison, MediaTek’s modems in Dimensity chips have improved, but typically they lag a bit in features. For example, the Dimensity 9300 modem tops out at around 7.0 Gbps down (likely it doesn’t support as many mmWave streams) tweakreviews.com tweakreviews.com. MediaTek has focused more on sub-6GHz 5G (most of its phones are in Asia/Europe where mmWave isn’t big). So a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 phone will likely have an edge in markets like the US or Japan where mmWave 5G is used (e.g. Verizon’s Ultra Wideband). MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 is said to appear in phones a few weeks before Snapdragon’s launch in China, but mainly in devices like Vivo X200 and Oppo Find X8 targeting sub-6 5G usage tweakreviews.com. In global models, most top-tier brands still prefer Qualcomm for the proven modem quality.

Apple’s iPhones, interestingly, rely on Qualcomm modems too – for instance, the iPhone 15 and 16 series use custom Qualcomm modems (like X70-derived). Apple is developing its own modem but it’s not ready as of 2025. So an iPhone 15/16 with A17/A18 will have comparable 5G capability to a Snapdragon Android because under the hood it’s the same modem design, just not integrated on the SoC (Apple uses it as a separate chip). However, integration gives Qualcomm some power efficiency advantages in RF handling. Also Android OEMs often expose more network features (like dual SIM 5G, etc.) which Snapdragon supports natively.

On the Wi-Fi front, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 comes with the FastConnect 7800/7900 subsystem, offering Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) support notebookcheck.net. Wi-Fi 7 can enable crazy-fast local wireless speeds (theoretically up to 5.8 Gbps on 320 MHz channels with 4K QAM). It also introduces features like Multi-Link Operation (MLO) – connecting to a router on multiple bands concurrently for lower latency and reliability. Snapdragon Gen 5 devices will be among the first to leverage Wi-Fi 7 as Wi-Fi 7 routers start hitting the market. In comparison, Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro (A17) only supported Wi-Fi 6E (Apple didn’t jump to Wi-Fi 7 yet), and the iPhone 16 series with A18 still reportedly stick to Wi-Fi 6E or maybe 7 for the Pro Max – this is one area where Android flagships often adopt new Wi-Fi standards faster. MediaTek’s flagship SoCs (and Samsung’s Exynos) also have Wi-Fi 7 by 2024, so Qualcomm stays on pace here.

For Bluetooth, Snapdragon’s FastConnect likely supports Bluetooth 5.4/5.5 (maybe even Bluetooth 6 if standardized by then). Notably, the FastConnect 7800 in Gen 3 already introduced Bluetooth LE Audio and dual Bluetooth antennas for better range and audio quality. Qualcomm has been pushing features like Snapdragon Sound, enabling aptX Lossless audio over Bluetooth, which will certainly be supported here. There’s mention that Snapdragon 8 Elite had Bluetooth 6.0 in some spec sheets gadgets.beebom.com – if Bluetooth 6.0 gets finalized (it’s expected to, bringing features like longer range and higher audio bandwidth), Gen 5 will be ready via firmware update or out-of-box.

Additionally, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 likely includes Ultra-Wideband (UWB) support (the previous Gen 4 did). UWB is used for precise ranging – e.g., digital car keys, tracking tags, spatial audio positioning. Android adoption of UWB is growing (Samsung and Google use it in flagships), and Qualcomm’s built-in UWB saves OEMs needing a separate chip.

Navigation and location services also get a boost: the chip will support the latest GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, NavIC, etc.) with dual-frequency positioning for higher accuracy. The AI engine even helps in sensor-assisted GPS to improve positioning in urban canyons by intelligently weighting signals.

In summary, connectivity is a traditional strong suit for Qualcomm, and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is unsurprisingly top-tier in 5G and wireless. Users can expect faster cellular speeds (network permitting), excellent Wi-Fi performance with new Wi-Fi 7 routers, and robust Bluetooth audio and accessory connectivity. It’s essentially future-proofed for the next few years of network tech.

One should note that Samsung’s absence in this space is interesting – Samsung’s upcoming Exynos 2600 (rumored on a 2 nm Samsung process late next year) would presumably have similar connectivity, but Samsung’s recent flagships leaned on Qualcomm modems for reliability. Indeed, Galaxy S26 is confirmed to use Snapdragon again androidauthority.com, meaning Samsung is entrusting 5G duties to Qualcomm’s proven solution rather than its own for now.

To illustrate Qualcomm’s edge, AndroidAuthority pointed out a subtle spec difference: “Connectivity-wise, the Dimensity 9300 edges out Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in max Wi-Fi speed (6.5 Gbps vs 5.8), but misses …” futurumgroup.com – in reality, those differences are minor, and with Gen 5, Qualcomm closes any gap and likely exceeds in real-world performance. There is practically no compromise on connectivity when you have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 in your phone – it’s as fast and flexible as it gets in late 2025.

Camera and Multimedia: Intelligent ISP and Cutting-Edge Media Support

Modern smartphone photography relies as much on the chipset’s Image Signal Processor (ISP) and AI as on the camera sensor itself. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 comes with Qualcomm’s most advanced Spectra ISP to date, often branded as part of the Snapdragon Sight system. This ISP is a 18-bit triple ISP setup (like its predecessors), capable of processing multiple camera streams simultaneously – for instance, it can handle up to three 36 MP cameras at once with zero shutter lag, or a single camera up to 320 MP stills gadgets.beebom.com. That 320 MP support (first seen in the 8 Gen 2/Gen 3) is largely to accommodate future high-res sensors; currently, the highest phone sensor is around 200 MP (e.g., Samsung’s HP2). But Qualcomm is ensuring the ISP won’t be a bottleneck if 250 MP+ sensors arrive.

More impressively, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5’s ISP can capture 8K HDR video at 60 FPS gadgets.beebom.com. Last-gen Snapdragon chips already did 8K 30 FPS, but 8K 60 is a new milestone, enabled likely by the faster ISP throughput on 3 nm and improved memory subsystem. This means phones with this chip could record ultra-high resolution video smoother than ever (though storage and thermal might be limiting factors – 8K is heavy). For more practical uses, the chip shines in enabling 4K video at 120 FPS (great for slow-motion at high res) and high dynamic range video like Dolby Vision HDR capture notebookcheck.net. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 introduced Dolby HDR photo capture and Ultra HDR (the ability to capture extended dynamic range images that can be stored in the HEIF format for vibrant playback). The Gen 5 will carry those forward – you can take photos with bright highlights and deep shadows that look great on HDR displays.

Where Qualcomm differentiates is how it uses AI in the camera pipeline. The Gen 5’s Spectra ISP is fused with the NPU to create an “AI ISP.” This enables features like real-time semantic segmentation of the scene – the ISP can recognize and separately process up to a dozen or more types of elements (sky, foliage, faces, etc.) and apply specialized enhancement to each notebookcheck.net. In Gen 3 it was 12 layers; interestingly, MediaTek touted 16-layer segmentation in the Dimensity 9300 androidauthority.com, so Qualcomm likely is in that range or higher now. The result is more context-aware photography: the chip can, for example, sharpen just the subject but not the bokeh in the background, or brighten a face without overexposing the sunset behind it.

Another AI-driven camera trick is the Video Multi-Object Eraser (mentioned earlier): using ArcSoft’s algorithms, the chip can identify unwanted people or objects in video and remove them, filling in the background – all in real time at 4K 30fps 9to5google.com. This is like a magic “Photoshop” for video on the fly. Even for still photos, features like Magic Eraser or sky replacement will benefit from the hefty AI power; what used to take a few seconds of processing could become instantaneous.

Low-light photography is substantially improved as well. The Spectra ISP can merge data from multiple frames (burst stacking) with 18-bit detail, and the AI can do neural noise reduction. Qualcomm says the Gen 5 can capture “vivid 4K night videos in near darkness” 9to5google.com – essentially seeing more than the human eye in dark scenes, using AI to brighten and color-correct intelligently. This is an area where Apple has also invested heavily – Apple’s Night Mode and Deep Fusion for photos are excellent. With A18 Pro, Apple introduced even bigger camera sensors and new algorithms, but ultimately the heavy lifting is done by the ISP/Neural Engine synergy. For example, iPhones do a lot of fusion of exposures and use machine learning for noise reduction. The Snapdragon’s raw computing advantage might allow even more aggressive multi-frame combination for each video frame, something that’s computationally intense.

When it comes to video codecs and media playback, Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 supports all the cutting-edge standards. This means hardware decode/encode for AV1 video (the royalty-free codec that’s now common for 4K streaming) – Qualcomm added AV1 decode support in Gen 1 or Gen 2 and it’s certainly present here, likely with 8K decode capability. It will also support H.265 (HEVC) and VP9 as standard, and encode H.265 and H.264. Apple notably added AV1 decode in the A17 Pro after holding out – so now both are on par there. For audio, Snapdragon has the usual support for Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, etc., and a powerful audio DSP. Apple’s chips have excellent media engines too, including ProRes encode/decode in hardware on the A17 Pro/A18 Pro (for those who do professional video recording). Qualcomm hasn’t announced ProRes support explicitly, but they did mention the ability to record 10-bit Perceptual Quantizer (PQ) HDR video and likely support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats.

One interesting comparison: Apple’s A18 Pro vs Snapdragon in USB and video output. Apple differentiates A18 vs A18 Pro by USB capabilities – A18 Pro has USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) allowing it to output high-res video and faster data transfer en.wikipedia.org, whereas A18 (non-Pro) is stuck at USB 2.0 speeds. Qualcomm’s chipset is typically used in phones that have at least USB 3.x if the OEM enables it (some cheaper phones don’t implement a USB 3 port even if chip supports). High-end Snapdragon phones often support DisplayPort over USB-C to output to external monitors or use “desktop modes” (e.g., Samsung DeX). Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will comfortably handle driving dual external displays (the Spectra ISP can output to 4K display plus on-device simultaneously). These are niche but nice capabilities – essentially, the phone can be a mini-PC for media playback or presentations.

In terms of professional camera features, Snapdragon chips offer support for RAW photo capture, multi-frame RAW HDR (computational RAW), and up to 14-bit RAW image pipeline, which benefit photographers who use apps like Lightroom on mobile. Apple’s ProRAW is similar – they allow capturing RAW with computational merges. Both ecosystems are well-served here, but Snapdragon phones often offer more extensive camera app controls (some Androids have 8K, super-slow-mo 960fps, etc., which iPhones do not).

MediaTek’s camera capabilities with Dimensity are quite strong too – the Dimensity 9300 supported 8K recording and high MP sensors (the Vivo X100 with Dimensity 9300 had a triple 50 MP setup, for example). However, MediaTek’s ISP historically isn’t as feature-rich as Qualcomm’s; they rely on partners like ArcSoft for some software features. Qualcomm integrating AI deeply might give them an edge in the trickier camera features like real-time editing.

Overall, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 equips smartphones with a pro-grade camera pipeline. Whether it’s capturing fast action in HDR, recording cinematic video, or snapping detailed astrophotography shots at night, the chipset provides the muscle and smarts to elevate results. One could say we’re reaching a point where the bottleneck is shifting to optics and sensors, because the chip can handle more data than most phone camera modules can generate. For end-users, this means Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 phones will continue the trend of each generation producing better photos and videos, even with similar camera hardware, thanks to smarter processing. As Qualcomm likes to say, it’s enabling “cognitive photography” – cameras that understand the scene and adapt in real time via AI.

Manufacturing Process: TSMC 3nm and the Road to 2nm

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is fabricated on TSMC’s 3 nm process, specifically the enhanced N3P node wccftech.com. This marks the second generation of Snapdragon built on 3 nm (since the Gen 4/8 Elite used TSMC N3E in 2024 wccftech.com). TSMC’s 3 nm family is currently the most advanced high-volume semiconductor process available. By using TSMC, Qualcomm benefits from the same leading-edge transistor tech that Apple’s A17 Pro and A18 Pro use – giving it a leap in efficiency and density over older 4 nm chips.

To appreciate the progress: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (2022) was on Samsung’s 4 nm and had issues. Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and 3 moved to TSMC 4 nm (N4/N4P) and saw big efficiency gains. The Snapdragon 8 Elite (2024) jumped to TSMC 3 nm (N3E), and now the Gen 5 uses N3P. Each step shrinks transistors and reduces power per switching. N3P reportedly can improve chip density slightly and reduce power ~5-10% vs N3E wccftech.com. Qualcomm has “taken full advantage of TSMC’s latest node” wccftech.com, meaning they’ve probably optimized the floorplan and transistor mix to squeeze the most out of it.

One tangible outcome is the transistor count: While Qualcomm hasn’t announced it yet, we can estimate the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 likely packs in excess of ~20 billion transistors. For reference, Apple’s A18 Pro has ~20 billion on N3E en.wikipedia.org, and Qualcomm’s own laptop chip (Snapdragon X Elite) has 45 billion but on a larger die. With added cache and more IP blocks, the smartphone SoC is catching up to desktop-class complexity.

Using TSMC 3 nm also reflects the current foundry competition. TSMC is ahead – Samsung Foundry’s 3 nm (with GAA transistors) isn’t in main mobile chips yet, and Intel’s 20A/18A processes (which could be akin to 2 nm class) won’t affect mobile until maybe 2025+. So Qualcomm sticking with TSMC ensures it’s on the “best silicon”. It’s notable that Apple had first dibs on TSMC’s 3 nm in 2023 with A17 Pro, which some say was N3B (a slightly different variant). By 2024 and 2025, yields improved and costs (hopefully) dropped, so chips like Snapdragon Gen 5 can be produced in volume. There were rumors that 3 nm wafers cost significantly more than 4 nm, which could increase device prices, but given multiple companies now on 3 nm, those economies of scale are improving.

The next step is 2 nm (often called “20 Ångström” or similar by Intel/Samsung). Qualcomm has indicated that 2025 will still use 3 nm, and 2 nm might come for the 2026 flagship wccftech.com. In parallel, TSMC’s roadmap includes N3X or N3S (variants for higher performance or cost reduction), but Qualcomm seemingly went for N3P for Gen 5 as an optimal balance.

One interesting twist: Qualcomm in the past used both TSMC and Samsung depending on circumstances (e.g., Snapdragon 888 was Samsung-made, 8 Gen 1 was Samsung-made, then they switched to TSMC mid-cycle for 8+ Gen 1 after efficiency issues). Now, with “Elite” tier chips, Qualcomm appears to favor TSMC exclusively for the premium tier, given TSMC’s track record of efficiency (and likely capacity reserved). Meanwhile, there are rumors Qualcomm might use Samsung’s fabs for an upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (non-Elite) variant or for an “8 s Gen 5” mid-tier chip androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. In fact, Android Authority reported that beyond the Elite Gen 5 (on N3P), Qualcomm might launch a slightly lower-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 also on 3 nm that shares these cores androidauthority.com androidauthority.com – possibly one of these could be made by Samsung, but it sounds like both are on TSMC N3P for now wccftech.com. There’s also mention of a Samsung-made variant of the 8 Elite Gen 4 this year (SM8850s) but nothing confirmed androidauthority.com.

From a consumer perspective, the manufacturing node is a behind-the-scenes detail, but its impact is felt in battery life and device slimness (less heat, less need for bulky cooling). So having a 3 nm Snapdragon means your phone benefits from the most advanced manufacturing tech – that translates to potentially cooler operation and better endurance than a 4 nm chip phone when performing the same tasks.

Apple’s A18 Pro uses TSMC N3E, which is quite similar in final outcome. Apple tends to build slightly smaller chips (in area) because they focus on efficiency first, whereas Qualcomm packs more features (5G, etc.) on-die. Yet both are marvels of nanotechnology – billions of transistors switching billions of times per second reliably.

In summary, Qualcomm’s choice of TSMC 3 nm N3P for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 ensures it’s at parity or better in process tech with Apple and ahead of other Android competitors (MediaTek 9400 is N3E, a half-step behind, one could argue; Samsung’s next Exynos might not be until 2 nm). It’s a reminder that cutting-edge chip performance is as much about manufacturing as architecture. And as we approach sub-3 nm nodes, even minor improvements like N3P’s 5% gains matter. The Gen 5 fully capitalizes on this, but the real leap will be in a couple of years with 2 nm. (Interestingly, just as an aside, news reports suggest Samsung aims to start 2 nm mass production in late 2025 wccftech.com, possibly for its own Exynos or perhaps to woo Qualcomm back – competition will heat up.)

For now, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 sits atop one of the most advanced silicon processes on Earth, which is a big reason it can push frequencies near 5 GHz and integrate such powerful components while still fitting in a smartphone.

Device Adoption and Market Impact

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 isn’t just a technical triumph; it’s strategically positioned to dominate the premium Android market in 2025 and beyond. Given Qualcomm’s near-ubiquitous presence in high-end Android phones, this chip will likely find its way into dozens of flagship models globally.

As mentioned, Xiaomi is wasting no time – their next flagship series, the Xiaomi 17 lineup, will be among the first with the Gen 5 androidauthority.com. It’s telling that Xiaomi skipped the “16” number entirely, naming their 2025 flagships Xiaomi 17/17 Pro to align directly against Apple’s iPhone 17 family androidauthority.com. That suggests Xiaomi wants to underscore parity (or superiority) with Apple in the minds of consumers, and having the latest Snapdragon is a key part of that strategy. Xiaomi often launches its flagships in China in December or January following the Snapdragon Summit announcements. So we could see the Xiaomi 17 series launch late 2025, possibly making them the very first phones on the planet with Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (much like Xiaomi 13 was first with Gen 2, Xiaomi 14 first with Gen 3).

Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series is another crucial design win. Samsung typically sells in huge volumes, and since the S23, Samsung has been using Snapdragon globally for better performance (after its Exynos chips underperformed). For the S26 (expected early 2026), Qualcomm is not only providing the chip but also giving Samsung a special “for Galaxy” edition, which might be a higher-binned variant or co-branded version androidauthority.com. For example, the S23 had a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy with a slight clock boost. A similar approach could apply: perhaps the Galaxy S26’s Gen 5 chip will run at a tad higher frequency (as one leak suggested: Galaxy S26 Edge test showed cores at 4.74 GHz vs standard 4.61 GHz) wccftech.com. This partnership strengthens Qualcomm’s hold on the Android ecosystem’s crown jewels.

Other leading manufacturers confirmed or expected to use Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 include OnePlus (the OnePlus 15 series) theverge.com, Oppo Find X series, Vivo’s next X series (unless they split between Snapdragon/Dimensity), Honor Magic series, ASUS ROG Phone (for gamers), Sony Xperia flagship, Motorola Edge series, and more. Essentially, any Android flagship outside of Google’s Pixel (which uses Google’s own Tensor chips) will likely feature the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. Qualcomm announced that “ASUS, Honor, iQOO, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi, and more” have devices coming with Snapdragon 8 Elite (the Gen 4) 9to5google.com. We can safely extend that list to Gen 5, as OEMs typically adopt each new generation to stay competitive.

On the MediaTek front, MediaTek has secured some design wins for its Dimensity 9300/9400 in Chinese OEM flagships (like Vivo and Oppo often do a Dimensity variant). But these are usually China-only or limited releases. The Snapdragon remains the choice for most global flagship models due to its stronger brand reputation and broad carrier certifications (especially for mmWave 5G in markets like the US). MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 might power a few devices (maybe an Oppo Find X8 Pro Dimensity Edition, etc.), but likely in limited runs. In a way, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5’s biggest competition in Android might be its own slightly cheaper sibling – the rumored Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (non-Elite) variant that could appear in “flagship killers.” Qualcomm is reportedly positioning the standard 8 Gen 5 (SM8845) a step below the 8 Elite Gen 5 (SM8850) androidauthority.com androidauthority.com. This could fill the gap for phones that aren’t ultra-premium but still high-end (think OnePlus 15 base model, or Xiaomi 17T later on). That chip supposedly shares the same 3 nm Oryon cores and features androidauthority.com androidauthority.com, just perhaps lower clocks or fewer GPU cores. If that materializes, Qualcomm will have a one-two punch: the absolute top-tier Elite Gen 5 in halo devices, and the slightly downscaled Gen 5 in slightly more affordable flagships. This is somewhat analogous to how Apple has A18 and A18 Pro: one for Pro iPhones, one for non-Pro.

In terms of market impact, Qualcomm’s strong launch of the Gen 5 ensures that Android flagships will handily compete with Apple’s iPhones on performance and features. This is critical as the narrative in past years was often “iPhones have faster chips but Androids have other advantages.” Now, with Gen 5, Android phones will boast equal or better multi-core speed, competitive single-core, equal neural processing (even exceeding in spec), and superior cellular speeds (since iPhones use similar modems anyway, it’s on par). This neutralizes a lot of Apple’s silicon advantage talking points. For consumers comparing an iPhone 17 Pro (A19 Pro) vs, say, a Galaxy S26 (Snapdragon 8 Gen 5), the performance difference might be negligible or even favor the Snapdragon in many tasks. That could sway tech enthusiasts or spec-conscious buyers toward Android options.

Qualcomm is also adding value for OEMs by supporting features like SAT (satellite communication) – the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 likely supports two-way messaging via satellites (like Snapdragon Satellite service introduced with Gen 2). Apple has Emergency SOS via satellite in recent iPhones; Android phones will match that via Snapdragon Satellite and Garmin services.

One more angle: Expert and enthusiast commentary. The tech community is closely watching Qualcomm’s execution with the Oryon cores. If real-world reviews show that Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 delivers on its promises – i.e., big performance gains without the return of battery drain or overheating – it will earn praise as perhaps Qualcomm’s best chip in years. Already, early impressions are very positive. WCCFTech’s rumor roundup concluded, “we will witness a brand new release that should trump the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the competition in every way possible” wccftech.com. And Beebom’s deep dive stated, “Overall, the Snapdragon 8 Elite [Gen 4] justifies its name and sets the stage for future Elite-series chipsets to take the crown from Apple.” gadgets.beebom.com With Gen 5 being that “future” now present, it seems Qualcomm is indeed on a trajectory to reclaim performance leadership across the board.

For smartphone buyers in 2025, this competition means better choices. Whether you pick an Android or stick with Apple, the leap in capabilities year-over-year is substantial. AI features that once sounded like sci-fi (like AI co-pilots on your phone, or real-time video edits) will become mainstream. Mobile gaming might reach new heights of graphics fidelity. And battery life hopefully improves even as phones get more powerful.

In conclusion, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a game-changer for the Android ecosystem, leveling the field with Apple’s silicon and outpacing other rivals. It will be omnipresent in the coming generation of flagship devices, from slick foldable phones to gaming phones to AR/VR tethered glasses. If you’re eyeing a 2025 Android flagship, chances are it will be powered by this new Snapdragon – and as our exploration shows, that’s very good news in terms of performance, features, and future-proofing.

Sources:

androidauthority.com androidauthority.com

Dimensity 9500 vs Apple A19 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Elite – The Ultimate Flagship Chipset Battle!
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Marcin Frąckiewicz

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