Snapdragon 8 Elite: Benchmarks and Specs

Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon 8 Elite is its flagship mobile processor, which offers unparalleled CPU and GPU performance. So to test the claim, we ran a series of intensive benchmarks on the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor to evaluate its performance and efficiency. We benchmarked the Snapdragon 8 Elite on AnTuTu, Geekbench, 3DMark, CPU Throttling Test, and more. On that note, let's go ahead and check out the findings.

Snapdragon 8 Elite AnTuTu Score

First and foremost, in the AnTuTu benchmark, the Snapdragon 8 Elite achieved an impressive score of 2.75M points. While it falls short of the 3-million mark, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite performed exceptionally well across the board, be it the CPU or GPU. For instance, the Adreno 830 GPU alone scored more than a million points, standing at 1.13M points.

Not to mention, the octa-core CPU, featuring 2nd-gen Oryon CPU cores for the first time, achieved 583.77K points in the AnTuTu test. What I found remarkable was that after running the test, the surface temperature of the phone was only around 36° C. It means that Snapdragon 8 Elite's thermal management and power efficiency have been significantly improved. 

Snapdragon 8 Elite Geekbench Score

Moving to the Geekbench test, which measures the CPU performance, the Snapdragon 8 Elite scored 3.03K in single-core and 9.27K in multi-core. While the scores are impressive, I was hoping that the 8-core CPU may breach the 10,000 mark in the multi-core test. It may have to do with the older Armv8 architecture employed in Oryon v2 cores. Perhaps, with the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, we may see multi-fold improvements in the CPU department.

Snapdragon 8 Elite CPU Throttling Test

Now, to test the Oryon CPU on sustained workload, we ran the 15-minute CPU Throttling Test. In this test, the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor again proved that Qualcomm has designed a well-rounded processor. We didn't notice any sudden drop of CPU performance under heavy workload. The CPU throttled to 73% of its maximum performance, achieving a maximum score of 239.18K GIPS. However, after the initial three minutes, the CPU throttled the clock speeds slightly to maintain stability.

Snapdragon 8 Elite 3DMark Score

Since the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset packs the powerful Adreno 830 GPU, we ran the graphics-intensive 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress test. In this benchmark, the Adreno 830 GPU achieved the best loop score of 6.05K, however, after multiple loops, the score stood at 2.83K. As a result, the stability went down to 46.8%. It shows that during prolonged gaming sessions, you may see degradation in graphics performance.

And to test the ray-tracing performance of Snapdragon 8 Elite, we ran the 3DMark Solar Bay test. Here, the GPU performed really well, achieving 11.39K points with an average of 43.34 FPS. Finally, in the highly-intensive 3DMark Steel Nomad Light test, the GPU managed to score 2.46K points with 18.28 average FPS.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Speedometer 3.0 Score

In our final benchmark, we ran the CPU-bound Speedometer 3.0 test on the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor to measure its web browsing performance. It got a respectable 21.4 points. Other competing chipsets score around 20 points, but Apple's A18 Pro still leads in this test, offering better fluidity and responsiveness while using web-based apps.

Benchmark Gallery

Snapdragon 8 Elite Specs

Verdict

To conclude, the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which houses Qualcomm's first custom Oryon CPU, is a flagship beast. The CPU delivers exceptional performance and efficiency, while running two Oryon cores at 4.32GHz. And don't forget that it's still based on the older Armv8 architecture. With Armv9 and support for more advanced instructions in the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset, we may see even better performance gains.

As for the GPU, the new sliced GPU architecture introduced with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, has delivered remarkable graphics performance. Currently, the Adreno 830 GPU is the most powerful and power-efficient mobile GPU, outranking even Apple's GPU architecture. Overall, the Snapdragon 8 Elite justifies its name and sets the stage for future Elite-series chipsets to take the crown from Apple.