Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 vs 8 Elite Gen 5: Benchmark score and key differences

Qualcomm introduced its most powerful mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, in September, and in no time, the chipmaker has announced another high-end chipset — the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, which further complicates Qualcomm’s naming scheme.

The latest SoC doesn’t bear the ‘Elite’ moniker, suggesting that it sits below the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. However, surprisingly, Qualcomm compared the 8 Gen 5 to a two-year-old 8 Gen 3 rather than the Snapdragon 8 Elite. So, where does the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 fit into the 8-series lineup? Is it a mid-range chip or still a proper high-end chip without the ‘Elite’ moniker? Let’s dig further into the comparison to figure it out.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 vs 8 Elite Gen 5: Benchmark score

The unreleased OnePlus 15R was recently spotted on Geekbench, featuring the same CPU specifications as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. The device has a single-core score of 2,784 and a multi-core score of 9,329.

The full-fledged Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 flagship chipset in the OnePlus 15 achieves significantly higher scores of 3,594 and 10,602 in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. That’s a 14% boost in single-core and 29% in multi-core performance for the Elite chipset.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 vs 8 Elite Gen 5: Here are all the major differences

Despite not bearing an “Elite” moniker, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 still features all Oryon cores, and luckily, those are the same as in the latest Elite chip. Even the CPU configuration remains unchanged: two prime cores and six performance cores. However, the Elite chip gets the advantage in terms of CPU speed.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 has two prime cores clocked at 3.8 GHz, while those in the 8 Elite Gen 5 can reach up to 4.61 GHz. Similarly, the six performance cores in 8 Gen 5 run at 3.32 GHz, and the Elite chip allows them to run at a higher speed of 3.63 GHz. Clearly, the Elite chip has a faster CPU. However, the difference shouldn’t be visible on regular day-to-day usage.

The GPU is Adreno 840 on both Qualcomm chips, but a deeper examination reveals several crucial differences. The Geekbench listing for the unreleased Moto X70 Ultra (to come with Snapdragon 8 Gen 5) reveals that the GPU runs at 384MHz. Now, if we turn to the Geekbench listing of Realme GT 8 Pro (powered by the 8 Elite Gen 5), we see both 384MHz and 768MHz are listed. The latter is the boosted frequency, which is missing on the 8 Gen 5. Additionally, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 lacks High-Performance Memory, an 18MB dedicated memory that enhances bandwidth and latency.

Still, the Adreno 840 on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 features should deliver excellent gaming performance. Additionally, it features Qualcomm’s latest sliced architecture, ray tracing support, and a full suite of Snapdragon Elite Gaming features.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 also borrows some features from 2024’s Elite chipset, including an X80 modem. The 8 Elite Gen 5 features a more AI-focused X85 modem with higher download and upload speeds over 5G. The Hexagon NPU is also taken from the Original Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset to keep up with modern AI workloads.

The non-Elite chipset also features a 20-bit Triple AI ISP, straight from the 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. It also features Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, LE Audio, 8K video playback, and advanced Qualcomm audio technologies as key traits among high-end Snapdragon chipsets.