Qualcomm’s next chip for premium smartphones will be known as the Snapdragon Elite. | Image Credit – SmartPrix
Since the Xiaomi 14 is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, it’s safe to assume that the next-gen model will flaunt the next premium Snapdragon chip. Thus, it’s likely the chip that was referred to as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is actually the Snapdragon Elite.
This will align with the naming convention for the new Oryon-based PC processors introduced by Qualcomm this year.
Leaker Digital Chat Station has also shared an image that hints that Qualcomm’s upcoming chipset will be known as the Snapdragon Elite.
The Snapdragon Elite will likely also supercharge the gaming experience on Android devices. | Image Credit – Digital Chat Station
This will be a new beginning of sorts for Qualcomm, not least because of the change in the naming scheme, but also because the company will no longer be relying on cores licensed from ARM. The self-designed Oryon cores will bring to the table better peak performance and improved power efficiency.
If leaked benchmarks are anything to go by, the Snapdragon Elite outperforms the iPhone 16 Pro Max‘s A18 Pro chip in multi-core tests, and nearly matches it in single-core performance.
Like the Snapdragon X Elite PC platform, the Snapdragon Elite for smartphones will presumably also pack a lot of AI processing power and will blast through the most demanding of gaming titles.
With manufacturers like Apple making clear that performance requirements of AI workloads will grow with the passage of time, the need for a super-fast chip for flagships cannot be overemphasised.