Qualcomm has launched two flagship chipsets at the Snapdragon Summit 2026 in Maui and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is the more powerful version. It's the SM8975 chip that appeared in leaks as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro before. Now, let's go ahead and learn about the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 in detail and check out its benchmark scores.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6: What Is the Difference?
First, you should know that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 are two different chipsets. The Extreme model has the SM8975 model number while the standard Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is the SM8950.
In August this year, Qualcomm teased "Dual 8 Elites" for the Snapdragon Summit. And just after, tipster Digital Chat Station (DCS) shared the final names in a new leak with the Extreme branding. So basically, Qualcomm's top chip became the Extreme Gen 6 from Gen 6 Pro.
Both chipsets are built on TSMC's 2nm process and feature a 2+6 Oryon CPU layout. However, the two chips differ in GPU, cache size and memory. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 comes with the Adreno 850 GPU and 18MB of HPM (High Performance Memory), whereas the standard chip uses the Adreno 845 without any HPM memory.
The system level cache is 8MB on the Extreme model and 6MB on the standard one. And only the Extreme model supports LPDDR6 memory, while the standard chip is limited to LPDDR5X memory.
In addition, the AI-dedicated Adreno matrix cores inside the GPU that power Adreno Neural Fusion is only available in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. So if you are looking for the best gaming performance, you should pick the Extreme chip.
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6: CPU
This year, Qualcomm has moved away from the 2+6 CPU cluster of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and adopted a new 2+6 layout on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.
You get 2x prime cores clocked at an astounding 5.0GHz and 6x performance cores up to 4.0GHz, all based on Qualcomm's custom Oryon next-gen architecture. The eight cores share a 16MB L2 cache (Oryon FlexCache).
This is the first chip to cross the 5GHz clock speed on smartphones. For comparison, the prime cores on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 reach up to 4.60GHz and the Galaxy variant can go up to 4.74GHz. However, it remains to be seen whether retail phones can hold 5GHz for long.
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6: GPU
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 packs the new Adreno 850 GPU. This year, Qualcomm has not increased the graphics memory as the HPM remains at 18MB. According to Qualcomm, the Adreno 850 GPU delivers 44% better graphics performance and 40% improved GPU power efficiency, compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
The biggest addition is Adreno Neural Fusion, which is like the Neural Accelerator inside the A20 Pro GPU and the Neural Graphics Architecture on the Dimensity 9600 Pro. The Adreno 850 GPU comes with AI-dedicated Adreno matrix cores inside its shader processor. These new hardware blocks can speed up AI performance and Qualcomm uses it for two features.
First is Super resolution, which uses AI to upscale the gaming output to 1080p or 1440p. Next is Frame generation and it creates an extra frame in between two rendered frames. This way, games look smoother and the chip uses less power.
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 Geekbench Score
In a leaked listing, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 scored 4,327 in single-core and 12,873 in multi-core on Geekbench 6. Note that these tests run at a higher power limit and with better cooling than a consumer phone.
| Geekbench 6 | Single-core | Multi-core |
|---|---|---|
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (Leaked) | 4,327 | 12,873 |
| Apple A20 Pro | 4,719 | 12,677 |
| Dimensity 9600 Pro (Claimed) | 4,276 | 12,650 |
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | 3,588 | 10,207 |
Qualcomm officially claims only 13% gain over the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and 37% improved CPU power efficiency.
That said, Apple still leads in single-core performance. The Apple A20 Pro chip scored 4,719 in single-core on our iPhone 18 Pro Max unit, which is around 9% higher than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. In fact, the A20 Pro is operating at a slightly lower clock speed of 4.93GHz.
In multi-core, the Extreme chip is ahead by just 1.5% and Apple reaches this level of performance with two fewer CPU cores than Qualcomm. If retail phones score lower -- as they always do -- this small lead in multi-core could disappear.
| Geekbench 7 | Single-core | Multi-core |
|---|---|---|
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (Leaked) | 3,582 | 12,247 |
| Apple A20 Pro | 4,006 | 11,460 |
| Dimensity 9600 Pro (Leaked) | 3,242 | 11,132 |
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 has also appeared on Geekbench 7, scoring 3,582 in single-core and 12,247 in multi-core. It's around 24% faster in single-core and 30% faster in multi-core than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, if we go by the leaked score.
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 AnTuTu Score
In August, DCS shared the first AnTuTu score of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and it reportedly scored a whopping 4,835,412 points. Compared to the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the leaked result is around 29% higher overall. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is also 30% faster in the CPU test and 35% higher in the GPU test.
| AnTuTu V11 | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (Leaked) | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 4,835,412 | 3,740,686 |
| CPU | 1,368,930 | 1,054,518 |
| GPU | 1,854,826 | 1,368,986 |
That said, I would take this score with a pinch of salt. It was shared from an early test device and we don't know under what cooling conditions the test was done.
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6: NPU
Qualcomm has rebuilt the Hexagon NPU this year with agentic AI in mind. It comes with the new Hexagon Element Accelerator, which speeds up Transformer-based models that power AI chatbots and agents. Qualcomm says the new NPU has received 35% gain in performance with 33% improved AI performance-per-watt.
In addition, its NPU gets 50% larger shared memory, which keeps more AI model data close to the NPU, and it can run Mixture of Experts (MoE) models with more than 30 billion parameters on the device.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6: ISP
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 brings a new 20-bit Spectra ISP with AI-powered camera features like Intelligent Pixel Control, Elite Color Engine with 3DLUT support, intelligent stabilisation and Motion Intelligence. According to Qualcomm, these features help the camera understand the scene better, so photos and videos look more natural.
The Extreme chipset can record 8K video at 60fps and 4K slow-motion video at 240fps and it supports the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec as well. It's also the first chip to support the VVC codec, which should make video recording and playback more power efficient on Android phones.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6: Memory, Modem and Connectivity
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 supports both LPDDR6 and LPDDR5X memory. It also brings support for UFS 5.0 storage. While LPDDR6 offers higher memory bandwidth, it also costs a lot right now because RAM prices have gone up significantly, so some phone maker may pair the chip with LPDDR5X memory to keep phone prices in check.
As for 5G connectivity, the chipset includes Qualcomm's new X105 modem. It supports 4x4 MIMO for both download and upload on sub-6GHz networks, which is a first for Qualcomm. You should see a big improvement in upload speeds.
For Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 features Qualcomm's FastConnect 8800 system, which includes support for Wi-Fi 8, Bluetooth 6.0, UWB and Thread.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 Specs
| Specs | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (SM8975) |
|---|---|
| Process Node | TSMC's 2nm (N2P) |
| CPU | 8-core Oryon next-gen CPU (2+6), 16MB shared L2 cache (Oryon FlexCache) |
| CPU Cores | 2x Prime at 5.0GHz, 6x Performance at 4.0GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 850 GPU at 1.45GHz, 18MB HPM, AI matrix cores, Adreno Neural Fusion |
| NPU | Hexagon NPU with Element Accelerator, 50% larger shared memory, 30B+ parameter MoE support |
| ISP | 20-bit Spectra ISP, 8K 60fps video capture, 4K 240fps slow-motion, APV support, VVC codec, Intelligent Pixel Control |
| Storage and Memory | LPDDR6 and LPDDR5X, UFS 5.0 |
| Modem | Snapdragon X105 5G modem 14.8Gbps peak download speed and 4.2Gbps peak upload speed |
| Connectivity | FastConnect 8800, Wi-Fi 8, Bluetooth 6.0, UWB and Thread |
To give an early impression, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is Qualcomm's most powerful mobile chipset till date. It moves to TSMC's 2nm process and pushes the CPU beyond 5GHz. In addition, you get LPDDR6 memory support and brings AI Frame Fusion for gaming.
Based on the claimed figures, the CPU and GPU performance looks good. However, these numbers come from engineering samples and reference devices, so wait for our independent testing.
Apart from that, sustained performance is still a concern, as last year's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 could not hold its peak performance for longer in our stress test. So it will be interesting to see how Qualcomm has tuned the Extreme chipset for sustained performance.
