Snapdragon 8 Elite vs 8 Gen 3: Qualcomm’s Biggest Performance Leap

Qualcomm has unveiled the much-anticipated Snapdragon 8 Elite aka 8 Gen 4 chipset with the 2nd-gen Oryon CPU cores. The chipmaker has presented an impressive SoC that rivals the top processors from Apple and MediaTek. But where does it stand against its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3? To find out, we have compared Snapdragon 8 Elite and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 thoroughly using available data. On that note, let’s begin.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs 8 Gen 3: Specs Comparison

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs 8 Gen 3: CPU

Let’s start with the CPU. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is manufactured on TSMC’s 3nm (N3E) process node, the same as the Apple A18 Pro. It’s an octa-core CPU and you get the new second-gen Oryon CPU cores for the first time on Qualcomm’s mobile chipset. The Snapdragon X Elite processors for Windows laptops featured the first-gen Oryon cores.

There are a total of eight second-gen Oryon cores on Snapdragon 8 Elite. Two Oryon cores can amp up the frequency up to an unprecedented 4.32GHz — even higher than A18 Pro’s 4.05GHz frequency. These two cores have exclusive access to 12MB of L2 cache. And six Oryon cores can reach up to 3.53GHz, with access to a separate 12MB of L2 cache. This is the largest cache size on a smartphone processor.

On the other hand, last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was built on TSMC’s 4nm (N4P) process node and it packed eight Kryo cores. A single Cortex-X4 prime core was clocked up to 3.3GHz, 3x Cortex-A720 cores at 3.2GHz, 2x Cortex-A720 cores at 3.0GHz, and 2x Cortex-A520 cores at 2.3GHz.

As you can notice, Qualcomm struggled to maintain clock speeds of up to 3.3GHz on last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. However, this year with 2nd-gen Oryon cores, the company has not just broken the 4GHz mark on passively-cooled smartphones but can raise the frequency of two Oryon cores to a massive 4.32GHz.

As a result, you see great leaps in CPU performance. Qualcomm says the Oryon-powered CPU on Snapdragon 8 Elite is 45% more powerful than Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, both in single and multi-core performance.

Xiaomi 15 and OnePlus 13 are slated to launch with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, and their Geekbench scores have already leaked. In the Geekbench test, the Snapdragon 8 Elite scored 3,213 in single-core and 10,093 in multi-core.

Based on the leaked numbers, we see that Snapdragon 8 Elite is around 40% faster than Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in single and multi-core performance. A performance uplift of 40% in just a generation is bonkers.

At the same time, Qualcomm claims that Snapdragon 8 Elite’s Oryon CPU saves power by a huge 44%. If Qualcomm’s claims are true about the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s Oryon CPU, CPU performance on mobile devices may be entering a new era. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is likely to outperform Apple’s A18 Pro in performance-per-watt.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs 8 Gen 3: GPU

While the Oryon-powered CPU on Snapdragon 8 Elite is a powerhouse, the new 8-series Adreno 830 GPU is even more performant. It promises a performance uplift of 40% over the Adreno 750 GPU on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Qualcomm has developed the flagship Adreno 830 GPU based on the new Sliced architecture. It brings three slices and each slice is clocked up to 1.1GHz.

In terms of ray-tracing performance for games, the new GPU offers 35% better graphics performance. Qualcomm has also implemented onboard GMEM (Generalized Memory Management) on the GPU for faster rendering.

Apart from that, the new Adreno 830 GPU on Snapdragon 8 Elite supports Unreal Engine, Nanite, and Chaos Engine. With faster graphics performance, you would expect power consumption to go through the roof, but Qualcomm claims it consumes 40% less power, which is again very surprising. Overall, the new GPU looks very impressive and we can’t wait to test it out.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs 8 Gen 3: NPU

Qualcomm has integrated a powerful Hexagon NPU on the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The chipmaker claims the new NPU is 45% faster than last year’s Hexagon AI engine. It packs a 6-core vector accelerator and an 8-core scalar accelerator. Coupled with faster dual-channel LPDDR5X memory (up to 5.3GHz), you get really fast AI performance.

Qualcomm says the new NPU is ready for Generative AI applications, and it supports on-device multimodal AI models as well.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs 8 Gen 3: ISP

The new ISP on Snapdragon 8 Elite is 33% faster than the previous generation. It can capture up to 4.3 Gigapixels per second. In addition, the ISP can use the Hexagon NPU for many AI features. It can perform limitless real-time segmentation, do AI relighting, erase objects from videos, and more.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs 8 Gen 3: Connectivity

Qualcomm has brought its latest FastConnect 7900 system to Snapdragon 8 Elite for better connectivity. It brings AI-enhanced Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 with LE Audio, and UWB. As for the modem, Snapdragon 8 Elite packs the latest Snapdragon X80 5G modem and offers Snapdragon Satellite support. The modem leverages an AI tensor accelerator to improve coverage, speed, latency, and efficiency.

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 features the FastConnect 7800 system and it brings Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and LE Audio. It packs the last-gen Snapdragon X75 5G modem and uses a dedicated AI tensor accelerator to improve coverage and speed.

Snapdragon 8 Elite vs 8 Gen 3: Early Thoughts

If we go by what Qualcomm has presented, the Snapdragon 8 Elite promises a significant breakthrough in smartphone performance. In almost every category, it has managed to achieve over 40% performance gains. Qualcomm has also put startling efficiency figures. The SoC is overall 27% more efficient than last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

I find the efficiency numbers surprising because in my Snapdragon X Elite review, the first-gen Oryon-powered CPU consumed a lot of power, and this was on a laptop, actively cooled by fans. But the 2nd-gen Oryon cores have completely changed the game, according to Qualcomm. If these performance and efficiency numbers hold true on smartphones, Qualcomm is poised to redefine the mobile computing industry.