Top chip from Qualcomm with the fastest mobile CPU
Qualcomm has introduced the Snapdragon 8 Elite, a new top chip for smartphones and mobile devices. It offers the fastest mobile CPU currently available as well as significantly increased graphics and AI performance with better efficiency. All information about the new SoC.
Chip manufacturer Qualcomm presented its new high-end chipset for mobile devices at the Snapdragon Summit 2024. And this doesn’t just turn things upside down technically. Because instead of staying true to the nomenclature that was introduced three years ago, the successor to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is now called Snapdragon 8 Elite and not Gen 4. We have all the information about the new chip and thus give a foretaste of what the next generations of top Smartphones will achieve in 2024 and 2025.
Snapdragon 8 Elite: Laptop chip for smartphones – the next level of mobile performance?
Qualcomm has given its mobile chip platform a bit of a technical makeover. As already suspected, the 8 Elite is manufactured using the current 3-nanometer process. The heart of the new Snapdragon 8 Elite is the second generation of Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU, which was presented last year for the Snapdragon X Elite notebook chip. With a maximum clock frequency of 4.32 GHz, it clocks faster than all other mobile CPUs. Previously, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (for Samsung) stopped at 3.39 GHz.
Qualcomm is once again relying on an eight-core design, although the components have been redesigned. The Snapdragon 8 Elite now consists of two Prime Cores (max. 4.32 GHz) and six Performance Cores (3.53 GHz). The latter completely replace the efficiency cores from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. However, this is in no way intended to make the Elite any more inefficient, on the contrary: Qualcomm speaks of a 45 percent increase in efficiency and also a 45 percent increase in performance compared to its predecessor. Mobile gaming should achieve a battery life that is 2.5 hours longer.
The CPU’s extended cache also plays a central role in the 8 Elite. At 24 MB, the L2 cache is the largest memory ever used in a mobile system. This enables faster data processing and improved performance for memory-intensive tasks such as AI-powered applications and multitasking.
Greatly improved gaming performance for realistic 3D environments thanks to Unreal Engine 5.3 support
The Adreno GPU newly installed in the Snapdragon 8 Elite has also made a big leap. It is said to offer up to 40 percent more performance and up to 40 percent less energy consumption compared to the previous generation. This is made possible by a so-called “sliced architecture”, in which each unit of the GPU works independently. The end result is that mobile games should run more smoothly with more complex graphics and more realistic environments.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite also supports Unreal Engine 5.3 including Nanite. This allows the display of cinematic graphics and realistic 3D environments. Physics simulations are also enhanced with support for the Unreal Chaos Physics Engine, enabling realistic destruction and collision scenarios in games where buildings or objects fall apart.
Snapdragon 8 Elite: Increased focus on on-device AI
A key element of the Snapdragon 8 Elite is support for multimodal AI, which enables voice, text and image processing directly on the device. Via the NPU (Neural Processing Unit), apps can process more complex AI tasks directly on the smartphone. To achieve this, Qualcomm has equipped the NPU with more computing cores. It now works 45 percent faster and more efficiently.
This allows users, for example, to hand long documents to their AI assistant to create personalized summaries or have complex topics explained in a simple way. The improved on-device AI also has the advantage of minimizing lag and improving data protection by not requiring a connection to the cloud. The new AI engine also makes the interaction with the AI assistant smoother. Instead of the previously required speech-to-text process, the new models can now work directly with speech.
Qualcomm also offers the prospect of having the AI assistant analyze objects via live view via the smartphone camera and interact with the assistant by asking questions about them.
Real-time analysis of 250 layers and video eraser
AI is again playing a crucial role in image processing. To do this, Qualcomm uses the so-called AI ISP (Image Signal Processor) together with the NPU. In addition, the Snapdragon 8 Elite can now process 4.3 gigapixels per second, which theoretically allows smartphones to capture footage from three 48 MP cameras at the same time at 30 fps.
The computing power also makes it possible to analyze and optimize photos and videos in real time using AI. What is new, for example, is that up to 250 different objects or layers can be recognized in an image and improved separately. This allows smartphone manufacturers to automatically improve faces, the sky or clothing. The new platform can also adjust skin tones and the sky for an optimal image, even in difficult backlit situations. AI is also involved in automatically improving autofocus, white balance and exposure.
One of the most exciting features, however, is the video object eraser. For a few years now, some manufacturers’ gallery apps have allowed objects in photos to be removed with a swipe of the finger. This function is now also available for moving images at up to 30 fps, which requires significantly more computing power.
Which smartphones will be equipped with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite?
Qualcomm announces that many smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung, Honor, Xiaomi, OnePlus and Oppo are equipping the next generation of their top smartphones with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite. Accordingly, we will see the Snapdragon 8 Elite in Samsung’s S25 series, Xiaomi’s 15 series or in the new Honor Magic 7 Pro.
At the Snapdragon Summit 2024, Honor announced that it would unveil the Magic 7 Pro with the new Snapdragon 8 Elite in China on October 30, making it one of the first smartphones with the new chip.
Xiaomi announced that it would also launch the new Xiaomi 15 series with the Elite 8 at the end of October. These will be the first phones to be available globally with the chip. It is still uncertain whether the Xiaomi 15 will come to Germany this year.
Source: www.connect.de
