Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 8 Gen 5: Flagship performance for affordable phones

What you need to know

• Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, a new flagship-tier chipset positioned below the 8 Elite Gen 5.
• The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 offers strong gaming, AI, and performance gains while targeting more affordable flagship phones.
• It uses TSMC's 3 nm N3P process with Oryon CPU cores, delivering better efficiency and notable AI improvements.
• First phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will arrive soon from brands like OnePlus, Vivo, Motorola, and iQOO.

Qualcomm today (Nov. 26) unveiled a new addition to its flagship lineup of smartphone processors, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5.

It's been only a couple of months since Qualcomm officially revealed the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset at the company's Snapdragon Summit 2025. During the event, Qualcomm also teased a new flagship-level chipset meant to complement the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, branded as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (without the Elite name).

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 sits slightly below the Elite version but is still a flagship processor, and it is now officially here.

Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will bring "flagship-level performance" to a "wider range of premium smartphones." The chipset will target users who want top-tier performance for gaming, video editing, and advanced AI features.

A closer look at Qualcomm's slightly less-premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 5

In terms of technical specifications, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is based on TSMC's 3 nm N3P process, the same as the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. It even features the same Oryon CPU cores, although it is clocked slightly lower at 3.8 GHz. Qualcomm claims up to 36% improved performance and 42% better power efficiency compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

GPU improvements are at around 11%, but power efficiency is up by 28% compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which should result in improved graphics performance while using less power.

AI performance gains, however, are much larger, with Qualcomm claiming up to a 46% improvement over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. This should deliver much-improved performance for on-device AI tasks, with Qualcomm saying the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will also enable agentic AI assistants to deliver context-aware interactions and personalized suggestions.

Overall, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 should offer near top-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 performance for more price-conscious flagship phones. The first devices featuring the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 are expected soon from brands including OnePlus, Vivo, Motorola, and iQOO, with new models "launching in the coming weeks."