Qualcomm launches Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, says Samsung will use it

Qualcomm unveils its next flagship chip, says Samsung will use it

Qualcomm has launched its new flagship chipset for phones, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It suggests that Samsung will use it for Galaxy S26.

Qualcomm has launched the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the brand’s new flagship chipset for mobile devices. It comes as the successor to the Snapdragon 8 Elite from last year, the SoC that's in Samsung‘s Galaxy S25 Ultra. Speaking of which, the Galaxy S25 Ultra played a role in the launch of the new processor, which you can check out here. Qualcomm has also revealed a list of brands that will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and Samsung is one among them. It suggests that the South Korean tech giant may use it for the Galaxy S26 series, which is in line with what previous reports had suggested.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is made on TSMC’s 3nm fabrication process. It features Qualcomm’s 3rd Gen Oryon CPU cores (2x 4.61GHz prime CPU cores and 6x 3.63GHz high performance CPU cores), Adreno 840 GPU with 18MB Adreno High Performance Memory and Unreal Engine 5, UFS 4.1 storage, support for Samsung’s Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, Snapdragon X85 modem with 12.5Gbps download and 3.7Gbps upload speeds, FastConnect 7900 connectivity system, QuickCharge 5, triple 20-bit ISP. With all that, it offers these improvements over its predecessor:

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 improvements over Snapdragon 8 Elite

20% higher single-core CPU performance

17% faster multi-core CPU performance

32% higher CPU responsiveness

35% more power-efficient CPU

23% faster GPU performance

25% faster ray-tracing performance

38% faster graphics memory

10% more power-efficient graphics memory

20% more power-efficient GPU

37% faster NPU performance

16% more power-efficient NPU

30% faster AI interface for 5G performance

50% lower gaming latency with AI-enhanced WiFi

16% better overall SoC efficiency

qualcomm snapdragon 8 elite gen 5 features and improvements over snapdragon 8 elite

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is the fastest mobile SoC right now

Qualcomm says that with these improvements, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is now the fastest SoC for mobile devices. Qualcomm's Senior Vice President and General Manager for Mobile Handsets, Chris Patrick, says, “With Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, you are at the center of your mobile experience. It enables personalized AI agents to see what you see, hear what you hear and think with you in real time. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 pushes the boundaries of personal AI, allowing you to experience the future of mobile technology today.“

qualcomm snapdragon 8 elite gen 5 detailed features and specifications (01)

qualcomm snapdragon 8 elite gen 5 detailed features and specifications (02)

For the last few years, Samsung and Qualcomm have been collaborating to make ‘For Galaxy' versions of flagship Snapdragon chipsets for Samsung's flagship smartphones, which offer higher performance and efficiency than the standard version of the chip. Considering that Samsung will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, we may see its ‘For Galaxy' version with the Galaxy S26 series. Since the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is faster than Apple's A19 Pro and MediaTek's 9500, the Galaxy S26 with the chipset's ‘For Galaxy' version could be the fastest phone on Earth.

Abid Iqbal Shaik - Writer

First Samsung device: Galaxy S II

I’m a computer science engineer living in Hyderabad, India, who has a keen interest in automobiles and consumer electronics. My journalism career kicked off in 2017 with MySmartPrice where I wrote news, features, buying guides, and explanatory articles about technology among other things, and reviewed many products, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, PC components, smartwatches, audio devices, wearables, and smart home products. Since then, I have worked for 91Mobiles, Apple, and Onsitego, before finally landing on SamMobile.

Phone Galaxy S26 Galaxy S26 Edge Galaxy S26 Pro Galaxy S26 Ultra Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5