Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 and X2 Extreme launched, Qualcomm challenges both Apple and Intel

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is the successor to last year's Snapdragon 8 Elite, and marks the first time Qualcomm has used its own Oryon CPU, which offers better power and energy efficiency than older ARM processors. Upgrades include faster processing for AI agents, which can collect data from cameras and microphones to make smart recommendations to phone users.

At the Snapdragon Summit event in the US, Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, aiming to turn the Oryon Gen 3 into the most powerful mobile CPU. (Source: Snapdragon)

“The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 enables personalized AI agents that see what you see, hear what you hear, and think with you in real time,” Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile at Qualcomm, said in a press release.

Compared to last year's mobile chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5's CPU is 20% more efficient and up to 35% more energy efficient, while the GPU improves performance by 23% and reduces power consumption by 20%, helping to extend the gaming time on the phone.

In terms of AI, the chip's neural processing unit (NPU) is 37% faster, processing AI queries at 220 tokens per second – a significant improvement over the previous generation's 70 tokens per second, or the Snapdragon X Elite PC chip's 30 tokens per second. The chip collects personal information to support next-generation AI agents that make suggestions and recommendations based on user behavior and preferences.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will appear on high-end phones from Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo, Vivo and many other brands. (Source: CNET)

Phones using the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will be the first mobile devices to support a new video codec, Advanced Professional Video, which allows for close-up, lossless video recording as well as more granular post-production controls for precise color grading. Qualcomm says the chip has a fully computational video workflow, meaning phones can extract single frames from video with image quality comparable to still photos.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 uses Qualcomm's X85 modem and FastConnect 7900 connectivity chip, supporting Wi-Fi 7 and AI to save up to 40% power, while optimizing Wi-Fi to reduce latency by up to 50% when playing games.

The chip competes with the Apple A19 Pro chipset in the recently launched iPhone 17 series. Richard Windsor, founder of Radio Free Mobile, commented: “Qualcomm has launched a very powerful processor and maintained its advantage over the competition in the high-end smartphone segment."

Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon X2 Elite and Extreme, claiming they are the fastest and most power-efficient chips ever on Windows PCs. (Source: The Verge)

In the PC segment, Qualcomm introduced two chips Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and Snapdragon X2 Elite to compete with Intel and AMD in the Windows ecosystem. The new processors are equipped with third-generation Oryon CPUs with up to 18 cores, 6 more than the previous generation.

Qualcomm says the X2 Elite Extreme offers up to 39% faster peak single-core performance and 50% improved multi-core performance compared to the previous generation. The chipmaker claims the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme offers up to 75% faster CPU performance than its competitors at the same ISO power levels. “It has more cores and delivers up to 50% performance improvement over the X Elite in the CPU, 100% in the GPU, and 70% in the NPU, and is the first Arm processor to run at 5GHz,” Windsor said.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is “Qualcomm's death blow to the x86 community,” he added.

“The key to competing with Intel and AMD in this segment has always been performance per watt rather than pure performance,” he explains. “Here, the X2 Elite Extreme delivers 44% more performance than x86 at the same power consumption when running single-threaded.”

In terms of multi-threaded performance, Qualcomm claims its chip offers a 75% performance advantage at comparable power consumption, while x86 chips consume 222% more power at peak performance than the X2 Elite Extreme. “Qualcomm is also starting to address the biggest pain point of Windows on Arm, which is gaming, with both Epic Games and Razer optimizing their products to run on the X2 Elite,” Windsor said.

Ngoc Nguyen (CNET, The Verge)

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