Snapdragon Summit 2024: Revamps mobile phone chips for AI, Partners with Samsung and Others

Qualcomm has introduced its latest flagship mobile processor, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, featuring significant performance enhancements and advanced AI capabilities. This new chip, powered by the second-generation Oryon CPU architecture, will soon be available in premium Android smartphones from major manufacturers such as Samsung, OnePlus, and Xiaomi.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite offers a 45% boost in CPU performance while consuming 27% less power compared to its predecessor. Built using TSMC’s 3nm process, the chip includes two prime cores running at 4.32 GHz and six performance cores at 3.53 GHz, making it the fastest mobile CPU in the world, according to Qualcomm.

In comparison benchmarks, Qualcomm reports that the Snapdragon 8 Elite outperforms Intel's Core Ultra Series 2 "Lunar Lake" processors, delivering 45% faster single and multi-core performance while maintaining lower power consumption. The graphics performance has also been significantly improved with a redesigned Adreno GPU, which delivers a 40% boost through a new sliced architecture running at 1.10GHz. This makes the Snapdragon 8 Elite the first mobile chip to fully support Unreal Engine 5.3, promising a superior gaming experience with the Nanite geometry system.

AI capabilities have been enhanced with a new Hexagon neural processing unit (NPU), operating 45% faster than previous versions. This allows on-device multimodal AI assistants to process text, images, and video simultaneously, elevating the user experience.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite also supports photo captures of up to 320MP and improves low-light photography. AI-powered features like a video object eraser tool and enhanced HDR processing further enhance the photo and video capabilities. Additionally, the integrated X80 5G modem supports download speeds of up to 10 Gbps.

Several smartphone manufacturers, including Asus, Honor, OnePlus, Oppo, and Xiaomi, are expected to launch devices with the Snapdragon 8 Elite in the coming weeks. Some of the first devices to feature the chip include Xiaomi 15, OnePlus 13, iQoo 13, ROG Phone 9, Honor Magic 7, and Realme GT7 Pro. Samsung is also expected to introduce the Galaxy S25 series, likely powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, early next year.

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