Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 chip is the successor to the popular Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 in the mid-range segment. On paper, the new chip offers faster graphics and Wi-Fi 7 support, but Qualcomm has also made a surprising change under the hood. So does the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 truly outclass its predecessor or is this a small upgrade? To find out, we have compared both chipsets across AnTuTu, Geekbench 6, 3DMark, CPU Throttling Test and Speedometer.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 vs Snapdragon 6 Gen 4: AnTuTu Score
| AnTuTu V11 Benchmark | Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 | Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu Score | 1,010,104 | 894,500 |
| CPU | 346,157 | 354,180 |
| GPU | 215,763 | 163,828 |
| Memory | 196,548 | 180,883 |
| UX | 251,636 | 195,609 |
Let's start with the AnTuTu benchmark. When we tested the two chips on the latest V11 benchmark, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 recorded 1,010,104 points, crossing the 1-million mark. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, in comparison, put up 894,500 points in the AnTuTu benchmark. It means the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 is around 13% faster than the 6 Gen 4. The full breakdown is available in our standalone Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 benchmark article.
That said, if you look closer, the gains come almost entirely from the graphics side. The new Adreno 812 GPU achieves 215,763 points, a whopping 32% lead over the Adreno 810 and the UX score jumps by around 29% as well. The CPU score, however, tells a different story. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 actually falls behind its predecessor here by around 2% and the reason becomes clear in the next section.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 vs Snapdragon 6 Gen 4: Geekbench Score
| Geekbench 6 CPU | Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 | Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-Core | 1,083 | 994 |
| Multi-Core | 3,287 | 3,082 |
Next, in the Geekbench 6 CPU test, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 managed 1,083 points in single-core and 3,287 points in multi-core. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, on the other hand, achieved 994 points in single-core and 3,082 points in multi-core. In effect, the new chip leads by around 9% in single-core and roughly 7% in multi-core workloads.
So, what is the twist? Qualcomm has replaced the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4's ARMv9-based Cortex-A720 and Cortex-A520 cores for older ARMv8 CPU cores on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5. The new chip brings four Cortex-A78 cores at 2.61GHz with four Cortex-A55 cores at 2.02GHz.
The higher clocks in the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 compensates the CPU downgrade in benchmarks. Notably, the single-core score is closer to the 1,092 points we recorded in our Dimensity 7400 benchmarks and that is no coincidence since MediaTek's chip also runs the same Cortex-A78 cores.
To put it simply, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 wins the Geekbench numbers by a slight margin due to the higher clock speeds, but architecturally, it's running older CPU cores.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 vs Snapdragon 6 Gen 4: CPU Throttling Test
| CPU Throttling Test | Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 | Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Max GIPS | 294,349 | 275,326 |
| Average GIPS | 284,929 | 260,458 |
| Min GIPS | 265,502 | 214,754 |
| Throttling Percentage (Higher is better) | 92% | 85% |
Now, coming to sustained CPU performance. In our 15-minute CPU Throttling Test, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 retained 92% of its peak output while the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 settled at 85%. The average scores tell the same story. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 achieved 284,929 GIPS against the 6 Gen 4's 260,458 GIPS, a gap of around 9% in sustained CPU output.
What is surprising is that the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 pulls this off despite running older cores at higher frequencies. You would normally expect it to throttle harder, but that doesn't happen. It comes down to the test devices. Our Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 unit was the Honor X80 Pro Max, which has a thicker chassis that likely gave the chip more thermal endurance, compared to the Oppo K13 5G.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 vs Snapdragon 6 Gen 4: 3DMark Score
| 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test | Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 | Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Best Loop Score | 1,214 | 968 |
| Lowest Loop Score | 1,210 | 964 |
| Stability | 99.7% | 99.6% |
Coming to the demanding 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 got a best loop score of 1,214 with a stability of 99.7%. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, on the other hand, achieved a best loop score of 968 with 99.6% stability. So while both GPUs are rock-solid across 20 loops, the Adreno 812 GPU on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 delivers around 25% better performance over the Adreno 810 GPU on the 6 Gen 4.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 vs Snapdragon 6 Gen 4: Speedometer Score
Finally, in the Speedometer benchmark which measures how quickly a chipset performs in browser-based workloads, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 put up 9.66 points on Speedometer 3.1 while the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 got 7.07 points. In day-to-day usage, that translates to websites loading quicker and heavy web apps feeling smoother on Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 phones.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 vs Snapdragon 6 Gen 4: Benchmark Gallery
Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 vs Snapdragon 6 Gen 4: Specs Comparison
| Specs | Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 | Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Process Node | TSMC 4nm | TSMC 4nm |
| CPU | Octa-core Qualcomm Kryo (ARMv8) | Octa-core Qualcomm Kryo (ARMv9) |
| CPU Cores | 4x Cortex-A78 at 2.61GHz, 4x Cortex-A55 at 2.02GHz | 1x Cortex-A720 at 2.3GHz, 3x Cortex-A720 at 2.2GHz, 4x Cortex-A520 at 1.8GHz |
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno 812 | Qualcomm Adreno 810 |
| NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon NPU |
| ISP | Dual 12-bit Spectra ISP, up to 200MP photo capture, 64MP with Zero Shutter Lag, 4K HDR video at 30 FPS | Triple 12-bit Spectra ISP, up to 200MP photo capture, 4K HDR video at 30 FPS |
| Storage and Memory | LPDDR5 up to 3,200MHz, UFS 3.1 | LPDDR5 up to 3,200MHz, UFS 3.1 |
| Modem | Qualcomm 5G Modem-RF System, Sub-6GHz SA/NSA, up to 2.8Gbps download, 5G/4G DSDA | Qualcomm 5G Modem-RF System, Sub-6GHz and mmWave, up to 2.9Gbps download, 5G/4G DSDA |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4 |
Verdict
To conclude, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 is the better chipset of the two, but it's a narrow win rather than a big generational upgrade. Its strong point is graphics performance and stability, delivering a 32% GPU uplift in AnTuTu and a 25% lead in 3DMark. In addition, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 support position the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 as a modern mid-range chip.
The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, however, is also a good chip. It runs newer ARMv9 cores, which means you get better CPU efficiency and even brings a better 5G modem on paper.
All in all, buyers picking a mid-range phone under Rs 30,000 today should go with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 for its superior gaming performance and future-ready connectivity. But if a Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 phone shows up at a tempting discount during this crazy smartphone price hike period, you lose very little in everyday CPU performance.
