Snapdragon 8 Elite: Qualcomm’s next-gen flagship Android chip won’t be called the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 afterall?

Qualcomm is set to unveil its next-gen chipset soon, and it seems like the successor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 won’t be called the “Snapdragon 8 Gen 4”, but instead the “Snapdragon 8 Elite”.

SmartPix spotted the logo of the “Snapdragon 8 Elite” chip in a leaked teaser poster of the upcoming Xiaomi 15, which by the way is set to make its Chinese market launch on the 23rd of October 2024. The original Weibo post is reported to have been deleted. The rebrand has also been hinted at by tipster Digital Chat Station in a post.

Does a new name also mean major upgrades?

With the unexpected name change, the new naming format should signify a major spec upgrade in the next-gen Snapdragon 8-series chip. The “Snapdragon 8 Elite” chip is also expected to feature Qualcomm’s Oryon cores, the same ones found in the Snapdragon X Elite laptop chips, which should help boost its performance by a significant margin.

Qualcomm’s history of confusing naming schemes

Back in 2013, Qualcomm started utilising the “Snapdragon 800 series” naming convention for its flagship smartphone chip lineup. Long story short, this naming format eventually got confusing, especially for those who didn’t follow the evolution of the chip lineup. Eight years later, Qualcomm released the last chipset bearing this naming format – the Snapdragon 888+.

Since 2022, the flagship Qualcomm smartphone chipset lineup has been renamed to the simpler “Snapdragon 8 series” naming convention instead. Thus far, four generations of chipsets have been released using this naming format, including the “Snapdragon 8 Gen 1”, the “Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1”, the “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2”, and the “Snapdragon 8 Gen 3”.

“Snapdragon 8 Elite” to launch in October 2024

Qualcomm is set to launch the “Snapdragon 8 Elite” chip in October this year (2024), with the Xiaomi 15 and OnePlus 13 expected to be the first devices to rock the new SoC. Samsung’s next-gen Galaxy S25 series on the other hand is expected to be powered exclusively by Qualcomm’s flagship chip, instead of using its in-house Exynos chips in certain regions.