Snapdragon 8 Elite unveiled: more AI for gaming, photos and videos

Qualcomm presented its new top chipset for smartphones, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, at the company's own Qualcomm Summit. The successor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is said to deliver up to 45 per cent more performance with the new Oryon CPU and still consume less power. In the AI sector, manufacturers will receive numerous new tools that they can use on their smartphones.

No surprise: more performance and increased efficiency

As befits a new system-on-a-chip (SoC), the Snapdragon 8 Elite is more efficient and has more power than its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. It should be noted here once again that Qualcomm has made a change to the naming system and is not calling the Elite Gen 4.

The new chipset is manufactured using the 3-nanometre process and has a new CPU, Oryon, which clocks at up to 4.32 gigahertz. It is said to deliver up to 45 per cent more performance than its predecessor in single and multi-core mode - and is 44 per cent more efficient with power.

The Adreno GPU is said to consume up to 40 per cent less power and supports Unreal Engine 5.3 with Nanite, among other things. Qualcomm claims that this enables graphics like AAA titles. Ray tracing is said to be 35 per cent better and gaming performance increased by 40 per cent overall.

The Hexagon NPU responsible for AI is said to deliver 45 per cent more performance - per watt of power used.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite has an X80 modem for 5G connections, supports Wi-Fi 7 and has an integrated UWB chip. The entire SoC is said to have reduced its power consumption by 27 per cent compared to its predecessor.

You can find the full Snapdragon 8 Elite data sheet here.

New functions: Pet photos, lighting and video eraser

More performance and less power consumption are always nice. However, it is exciting to see what new (AI) functions Qualcomm is offering manufacturers with the chipset. However, it is not guaranteed that all of them will be used - and some already have their own solutions for this.

Honor showed its Magic7 for the first time at the Qualcomm Summit, which will be presented in detail in China on 30 October. An on-device AI agent will be active on the smartphone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite. For example, it will be able to order food, cancel subscriptions, help with travel planning or manage tickets and notifications. Ideally, the AI will be aware of your special requirements and take allergies or a vegan diet into account when ordering food, for example.

Qualcomm promises - again for everyone - to improve video quality in low light with the Snapdragon 8 Elite. There is also an eraser that can be used to remove unwanted objects from videos - similar to the Magic Eraser that Google has been offering for photos for some time.

In video calls, the AI should always provide lighting that makes you look professional, regardless of the surroundings.

For photos, Qualcomm promises a more natural reproduction of skin tones and sky colours in poor shooting conditions.

With "Truepic" and the C2PA standard, there is also an encrypted seal. This is intended to prove that a photo is a real photo and not a purely AI-generated image.

In terms of audio, the Snapdragon 8 Elite supports Qualcomm's Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN). Among other things, this should automatically adapt to the environment and thus ensure consistently good sound. A promise that many have already made and that has yet to be fulfilled.

In contrast, I find it more exciting that XPAN headphones are supposed to automatically switch to a Wi-Fi connection if you leave the Bluetooth range with them. For example, I could make phone calls - or listen to music - anywhere in the office building without having to take my laptop with me.

Many manufacturers want to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite

According to Qualcomm, numerous smartphone manufacturers will be launching devices with the Snapdragon 8 Elite "in the coming weeks". The names mentioned are Asus, Honor, Iqoo, Motorola, Nubia, Oneplus, Oppo, Redmagic, Redmi, Realme, Samsung, Vivo,

Xiaomi and ZTE.

With the predecessor Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the Redmagic was one of the first smartphones with the new chip in December 2023. The Xiaomi 14 Pro followed in the same month - initially only in China - and the Galaxy S24 Ultra from Samsung in January. It's quite possible that things will be similar this year - except that Honor will get involved early on.