Qualcomm has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone platforms, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.
Both chips are built on a 2nm process and feature Qualcomm’s latest Oryon CPU, Hexagon NPU and Adreno GPU, with a strong focus on on-device agentic AI.
The new platforms also mark a performance milestone for Qualcomm, with the Oryon CPU reaching up to 5GHz and it is the world’s first mobile CPU to do so. The new flagship mobile chip will power upcoming flagship smartphones from Honor, iQoo, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Redmi, RedMagic, Vivo and Xiaomi.
While both platforms share many of the same core technologies, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 sits at the top of the range with a faster GPU, more capable camera pipeline and additional gaming features.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 gets 5GHz Oryon CPU and Adreno Neural Fusion
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 uses an eight-core Oryon CPU comprising two Prime cores clocked at up to 5.0GHz and six Performance cores running at up to 4.0GHz. It also gets 16MB of Oryon Flex Cache.
Qualcomm claims the CPU delivers 13% higher performance and 37% better power efficiency compared to the previous-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Graphics are handled by a new Adreno GPU with dedicated matrix cores and Adreno Neural Fusion. Qualcomm says the GPU offers 44% higher performance and 40% better power efficiency than the previous generation.
The Extreme chip also gets 18MB of Adreno High-Performance Memory, which Qualcomm says delivers additional power savings.
Adreno Neural Fusion is designed to shift certain AI workloads directly onto dedicated GPU matrix cores. Qualcomm says this enables features such as AI-powered super resolution, frame generation and image reconstruction without placing the entire workload on the main GPU.
For AI workloads, the reworked Hexagon NPU is claimed to deliver 35% higher performance and 33% better performance-per-watt compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
The platform also incorporates the Qualcomm Sensing Hub with dual Micro NPUs and dual always-sensing image signal processors to support on-device contextual AI.
Qualcomm describes this as part of its push towards agentic AI, where on-device AI can learn a user’s routines and preferences and coordinate tasks across apps with less explicit prompting.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 supports 8K 60fps video
Camera capabilities are another key differentiator for the Extreme version as it features triple 20-bit Qualcomm Spectra AI ISPs. It supports up to three 64MP cameras with Zero Shutter Lag, a single camera of up to 108MP with Zero Shutter Lag, and image capture at up to 320MP.
For video, the chip supports up to 8K recording at 60fps, 4K slow-motion recording at 240fps and 1080p slow motion at 960fps.
It also supports the Advanced Professional Video codec, or APV, alongside Qualcomm’s Elite Color Engine with real-time 3D LUT support.
Qualcomm says the platform enables the first commercial devices to record 8K video at 60fps and 4K slow-motion video at 240fps.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 shares the same 2nm process and 5GHz CPU
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 sits one step below the Extreme model, but it still shares several key components.
It is also built on a 2nm process and uses the same CPU configuration with two Prime cores at up to 5.0GHz and six Performance cores at up to 4.0GHz, along with 16MB of Oryon Flex Cache.
Qualcomm claims a 10% CPU performance improvement and 37% better CPU power efficiency compared to the previous generation.
Its Adreno GPU is claimed to offer 35% higher performance and 40% better efficiency, while the Hexagon NPU gets a 14% performance improvement and up to 20% better AI performance-per-watt.
It retains the Snapdragon Elite Gaming feature set and adds Qualcomm Game Quick Touch 3.0.
The camera system still uses triple 20-bit AI ISPs and supports up to three 64MP cameras with Zero Shutter Lag, a single 108MP camera with Zero Shutter Lag and photos at up to 320MP.
However, video recording maxes out at 8K 30fps and 4K 120fps, compared to 8K 60fps and 4K 240fps on the Extreme version.
LPDDR6, UFS 5.0 and Wi-Fi 8 support
Both Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 platforms support LPDDR5X and LPDDR6 memory at up to 5,300MHz, with memory capacities of up to 24GB. Storage support has also been upgraded to UFS 5.0.
Qualcomm’s X105 5G Modem-RF provides support for 5G Advanced and peak download speeds of up to 14.8Gbps and uploads of up to 4.2Gbps. This is also their first modem system ready for 3GPP Release 19.
Both platforms also use Qualcomm FastConnect 8800, supporting Wi-Fi 8 alongside Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6, with peak Wi-Fi speeds of up to 11.6Gbps. It also supports Bluetooth 6.0, Ultra Wideband and Thread.
Display support goes up to 4K+ at 120Hz or QHD+ at 240Hz on-device, while external displays can run at up to 4K 120Hz or 8K 30Hz. Both platforms also support Qualcomm Quick Charge 5.
Qualcomm has named Honor, iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Redmi, RedMagic, Vivo and Xiaomi as the first brands to utilise the new flagship chip.
