Qualcomm has taken the wraps off its latest mobile platform, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, during its annual Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Hawaii. And if you thought last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite was powerful, this one is on another level.
Qualcomm says the Gen 5 brings a serious bump across CPU, GPU, AI, and camera performance, and it’s already starting to show up in new devices.
The first phone to use the new chip is the Xiaomi 17 series, which launched last night in China. But Xiaomi is just the beginning. More than a dozen brands are lined up to ship phones with the Gen 5, including iQOO, Realme, OnePlus, Honor, Nubia, RedMagic, Oppo, Vivo, Samsung, and ZTE.
So, what’s inside this chip? At the heart is Qualcomm’s third-gen Oryon CPU, with a prime core clocked at up to 4.6GHz. Qualcomm claims a 20 percent performance gain and up to 35 percent better efficiency compared to last year.
The Adreno GPU also gets a 23 percent boost, which should help with smoother ray-traced gaming. And Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU is getting a big bump too—37 percent more throughput for on-device AI. That means faster photo editing, generative tools, and smarter assistants right on your phone.
Now that the chip is official, let’s see the phones that will soon arrive with it.
1. iQOO 15
iQOO has confirmed it will launch the iQOO 15 in October in China. It will be the world’s first smartphone to feature Samsung Display’s new 2K LEAD OLED panel. The screen is said to be up to 740 percent brighter than previous panels while consuming 44 percent less power.
The phone will also pack a 7,000mAh battery with 100W wired and wireless charging, a triple-camera setup with a 100x telephoto lens, and iQOO’s dedicated Q3 gaming chip alongside the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Oh, and there’s RGB lighting on the back plus a color-changing rear panel.
2. Realme GT 8 Pro
Realme has its own claim to fame. The company confirmed that the GT 8 Pro will be India’s first Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 phone. On AnTuTu, Realme says it’s already pushing 4 million+ points.
The GT 8 Pro is said to feature a 2K AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate and up to 7,000 nits of brightness. Powering it will be a massive 7,000mAh battery, reportedly paired with 120W fast charging. As for cameras, it could include a 200MP periscope telephoto camera with 12x lossless zoom.
3. OnePlus 15
OnePlus is also ready to jump into the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 party with its upcoming OnePlus 15. This time, it looks like OnePlus is chasing that ultra-premium vibe. The phone is confirmed to feature 1.15mm ultra-thin bezels around a flat display that supports a 165Hz refresh rate.
Inside, the phone will pack the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, up to 16GB of RAM, and Android 16 with either ColorOS 16 (China) or OxygenOS 16 (global). Battery capacity is expected to hover around 7,000mAh, with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging.
For cameras, OnePlus seems to be keeping things more practical. It could feature a 50MP main sensor with OIS, a periscope telephoto, and an ultrawide. The company has already shared some official photo samples, hinting at better low-light performance.
4. Honor Magic 8 series
Honor has been heavily teasing the Magic 8 and Magic 8 Pro on Chinese social media, with a clear focus on the cameras. The Magic 8 Pro in particular is rumored to feature a 200MP telephoto lens with 12x zoom, a 23mm main camera, and a dedicated camera button.
Both phones will run the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and Honor is adding its own AI flavor with features like Magic Color, which uses AI to simplify and enhance image processing. The phones are expected to launch in China this October, with a global release to follow later.
5. Nubia Z80 Ultra
Nubia has long been pushing under-display selfie cameras in its flagship phones for years now, and the upcoming Z80 Ultra continues that trend. This flagship will once again ditch notches and punch holes for a seamless display.
The panel will have 144Hz refresh rate support and up to 3,000Hz touch sampling in gaming mode. It will be powered by Qualcomm’s Gen 5 chip, of course, paired with a rumored 7,100mAh battery.
6. RedMagic 11 Pro
Nubia’s gaming-focused sub-brand is also preparing the RedMagic 11 Pro series, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The phones will be IP68 rated for water and dust resistance and will still keep their built-in cooling fan.
The 11 Pro has also appeared in benchmarks with 3,309 single-core and 10,742 multi-core scores on Geekbench, with 16GB RAM and Android 16. It’s still early days for details, but if past RedMagic phones are anything to go by, expect shoulder triggers, RGB lights, and gamer-friendly extras.
7. What about Samsung and others?
While brands like Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, and Sony are also confirmed partners, their Gen 5-powered devices won’t arrive until later. Samsung’s big play will likely be the Galaxy S26 Ultra in early 2026, which is rumored to use the same OLED screen that debuts on the iQOO 15.
Vivo and Oppo tend to roll out their Snapdragon flagships in the first half of the year, so announcements are more likely to come sometime in 2026.
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