The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 arrives as a 3nm part built by TSMC and uses the same two prime and six performance core layout as the pricier Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, although its clocks run a little slower.
Qualcomm says the prime cores run at 3.8GHz, while the performance cores run at 3.32GHz. Qualcomm claims the newcomer delivers “36 per cent faster CPU performance, 11 per cent better GPU performance, 46 per cent better AI performance, and 13 per cent higher power efficiency compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3”, which first appeared two years ago.
The Adreno 840 GPU stays on board but misses the Adreno high-performance memory feature, which trims its overall bite. Even so, it packs hardware ray tracing, Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.1, HDR gaming support, and Snapdragon Game Super Resolution for those who fancy a smoother mobile bash.
A fresh Hexagon NPU handles on-device multimodal AI work and sits beside the updated Spectra ISP, which sports a triple 20-bit pipeline and a dose of AI trickery. The ISP supports up to 320MP sensors and can juggle three 48MP cameras at 30fps with zero shutter lag, or a single 108MP sensor at the same speed. It records 4K video at 120fps while the flashier Elite chip keeps the 8K toys to itself.
The camera block supports 10-bit colour and the Rec 2020 gamut, as well as Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG. It also works with Google’s Ultra HDR format and Samsung’s APV codec for those who want their phone footage to look almost studio-ready. It shoots 4K at 60 fps with AI-powered segmentation, sky and skin tweaks, noise reduction, and some decent low-light help.
Memory support stretches to 24GB of LPDDR5X at 4,800MHz and UFS 4.1 storage. Display output reaches 4K+ at 120Hz or QHD+ at 240Hz, which feels rather daft for a phone panel, but there you go.
The X80 5G modem supports mmWave and sub-6 GHz bands in SA and NSA modes and claims peak download speeds of 10 Gbps and upload speeds of 3.5 Gbps. Dual-SIM dual-active support should keep travellers cheerful.
Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, UWB, USB 3.1 Gen 2 and GNSS systems such as BeiDou, Galileo, GPS, NavIC and QZSS. Bluetooth LE, LE Audio, Auracast, aptX adaptive and aptX lossless are also baked in. Qualcomm’s 3D Sonic fingerprint kit returns for good measure.
Qualcomm says iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus and Vivo plan to wedge the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 into their cheaper high-end devices in the coming months. Samsung’s intentions remain unclear, though the chip would slot neatly into the Galaxy S26 FE and Galaxy Z Flip 8 FE if the company chooses to.
