What you need to know
- Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, a new flagship-tier chipset positioned below the 8 Elite Gen 5.
- The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 offers strong gaming, AI, and performance gains while targeting more affordable flagship phones.
- It uses TSMC's 3 nm N3P process with Oryon CPU cores, delivering better efficiency and notable AI improvements.
- First phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will arrive soon from brands like OnePlus, Vivo, Motorola, and iQOO.
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Qualcomm today (Nov. 26) unveiled a new addition to its flagship lineup of smartphone processors, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5.
It's been only a couple of months since Qualcomm officially revealed the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset at the company's Snapdragon Summit 2025. During the event, Qualcomm also teased a new flagship-level chipset meant to complement the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, branded as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (without the Elite name).
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 sits slightly below the Elite version but is still a flagship processor, and it is now officially here.
Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will bring "flagship-level performance" to a "wider range of premium smartphones." The chipset will target users who want top-tier performance for gaming, video editing, and advanced AI features.
A closer look at Qualcomm's slightly less-premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
In terms of technical specifications, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is based on TSMC's 3 nm N3P process, the same as the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It even features the same Oryon CPU cores, although it is clocked slightly lower at 3.8 GHz. Qualcomm claims up to 36% improved performance and 42% better power efficiency compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
GPU improvements are at around 11%, but power efficiency is up by 28% compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which should result in improved graphics performance while using less power.
AI performance gains, however, are much larger, with Qualcomm claiming up to a 46% improvement over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This should deliver much-improved performance for on-device AI tasks, with Qualcomm saying the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will also enable agentic AI assistants to deliver context-aware interactions and personalized suggestions.
Overall, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 should offer near top-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 performance for more price-conscious flagship phones. The first devices featuring the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 are expected soon from brands including OnePlus, Vivo, Motorola, and iQOO, with new models "launching in the coming weeks."
