Qualcomm has unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 at the Snapdragon Summit 2026 as its flagship chipset. It's a successor to last year's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, but now comes with a new 'Extreme' branding. If you are wondering whether the new 2nm chip is worth waiting for, here is the detailed comparison between the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: CPU
First off, Qualcomm has introduced its next-gen Oryon CPU on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. It has an 8-core CPU and comes in a 2+6 layout. Qualcomm has been using its 2+6 layout since the Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. Last year's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 also came with 2x Oryon v3 prime cores at 4.60GHz and 6x Oryon v3 performance cores at 3.62GHz.
On the other hand, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 features a 2+6 layout with 2x prime cores and 6x performance cores. The prime cores are clocked up to an incredible 5.0GHz and the performance cores at 4.0GHz.
This is the first time a mobile chip has touched the 5GHz CPU clock speed. Qualcomm has also switched from TSMC's 3nm N3P node to the 2nm N2P node.
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: GPU
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 uses the Adreno 840 GPU, which is clocked up to 1.2GHz with 18MB of Adreno High Performance Memory (HPM). The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 upgrades to the Adreno 850 GPU, while keeping the graphics memory at 18MB and increasing the clock speed to 1.45GHz.
Qualcomm claims the GPU inside the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is 44% faster and 40% more power efficient than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
Apart from that, the main addition is the AI-dedicated Adreno matrix cores inside the Adreno 850 GPU, which the Adreno 840 lacks. These matrix cores can do AI calculations directly on the GPU and power a new feature called Adreno Neural Fusion. It can upscale games to 1080p or 1440p and generate frames using AI.
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: AnTuTu Score
If we go by the claimed AnTuTu score, the gap between the two chips looks large. Digital Chat Station (DCS) shared in August that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 has scored 4,835,412 points in AnTuTu V11. In comparison, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 scored 3,740,686 points on our iQOO 15 test unit.
| AnTuTu V11 Benchmark | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (Leaked) | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu Score | 4,835,412 | 3,740,686 |
| CPU | 1,368,930 | 1,054,518 |
| GPU | 1,854,826 | 1,368,986 |
That said, the result came from an unreleased test device so don't treat these numbers as definitive. We will be doing an independent testing once we get access to a retail phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip so stay tuned.
Qualcomm officially says the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 offers 13% faster CPU performance and 44% improved GPU performance than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: Geekbench Score
Next, in the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 running on a reference device scored 4,327 in single-core and 12,873 in multi-core. Compared to our Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 results, the Extreme chipset appears 21% faster in single-core and 26% faster in multi-core. However, Qualcomm says the CPU has seen a 13% performance gain with 37% better power efficiency.
| Geekbench 6 CPU | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (Leaked) | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-core | 4,327 | 3,588 |
| Multi-core | 12,873 | 10,207 |
Note that the chipset was not running inside a phone, so it didn't have to deal with the thermal ceiling of a smartphone and such boards usually post higher scores than consumer devices. All in all, wait for our independent test run to gauge the performance gap between the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
On the newly-released Geekbench 7, a Qualcomm reference device with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip scored 3,582 in single-core and 12,247 in multi-core. For comparison, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 scored 2,898 and 9,451 in the same test.
| Geekbench 7 CPU | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (Leaked) | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Single-core | 3,582 | 2,898 |
| Multi-core | 12,247 | 9,451 |
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: NPU
For AI, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 already brought a big jump last year. Qualcomm claimed its Hexagon NPU was 37% faster than the previous generation. It also added a 32K context window, so on-device AI models could handle longer conversations.
Qualcomm has now upgraded the Hexagon NPU inside the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 which is 35% faster. It brings a new Element Accelerator, which is designed for the Transformer models that power AI chatbots and agents.
On top of that, Qualcomm says the NPU has 50% more shared memory, which keeps AI model data close to the NPU instead of retrieving it from the phone's memory. Qualcomm also claims up to 50% faster prefill speed for INT4 models. It means that on-device AI models should respond faster. In addition, the NPU can run Mixture of Experts (MoE) AI models with up to 30 billion parameters.
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Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: ISP
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 comes with a triple 20-bit Spectra ISP that supports up to 320MP photos and 4K video at 120fps. It was also the first mobile chip to record video in the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 also supports the APV codec and increases the video capturing limit to 8K at 60fps and slow-motion 4K at 240fps. In addition, it's the first chip to support the VVC codec, and it brings new AI camera features like Intelligent Pixel Control and Elite Color Engine with 3DLUT support.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: Memory and Connectivity
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 supports LPDDR5X memory at up to 10.7Gbps and UFS 4.1 storage. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, on the other hand, adds support for LPDDR6 memory while keeping LPDDR5X support as well. In addition, it supports UFS 5.0 storage.
LPDDR6 should help with on-device AI tasks that need a lot of memory bandwidth, but it's expensive right now due to the DRAM shortage. So not every phone with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip may use the latest memory.
For connectivity, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 comes with the Snapdragon X85 modem, which offers up to 12.5Gbps download and 3.7Gbps upload speeds. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 moves to Qualcomm's latest X105 modem. It can go up to 14.8Gbps in peak download speed and 4.2Gbps in peak upload speed.
On the wireless side, the Extreme chipset includes the FastConnect 8800 system that brings Wi-Fi 8 and Bluetooth 6.0 while the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: Specs Comparison
| Specs | Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Process Node | TSMC's 2nm (N2P) | TSMC's 3nm (N3P) |
| CPU | 8-core Oryon next-gen CPU (2+6), 16MB Oryon FlexCache | 8-core Oryon v3 CPU (2+6) |
| CPU Cores | 2x Prime at 5.0GHz, 6x Performance at 4.0GHz | 2x Prime at 4.60GHz, 6x Performance at 3.62GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 850 GPU at 1.45GHz, 18MB HPM, AI matrix cores, Adreno Neural Fusion | Adreno 840, up to 1.2GHz, 18MB HPM |
| NPU | Hexagon NPU with Element Accelerator, 50% larger shared memory, 30B+ parameter MoE support | Hexagon NPU |
| ISP | 20-bit Spectra ISP, 8K 60fps video capture, 4K 240fps slow-motion, APV support, VVC codec, Intelligent Pixel Control | Qualcomm Spectra 20-bit Triple ISP, up to 320MP images, 4K120FPS video |
| Storage and Memory | LPDDR6 and LPDDR5X, UFS 5.0 | LPDDR5X up to 10.7Gbps, UFS 4.1 |
| Modem | Snapdragon X105 5G modem, 14.8Gbps peak download speed and 4.2Gbps peak upload speed | Snapdragon X85 5G, up to 12.5Gbps download and 3.7Gbps upload |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 8, Bluetooth 6.0 and UWB | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 and UWB |
It's obvious that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is the more powerful chipset. If we go by Qualcomm's figures, it suggests a CPU gain of around 13%, a GPU gain of around 44% and 35% improved NPU performance.
In addition, the latest Qualcomm silicon is manufactured on a 2nm node, gets the latest Oryon CPU and an upgraded Adreno 850 GPU with LPDDR6 memory support. There is also a new NPU for on-device AI and Adreno Neural Fusion for gaming, which are not available on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
That said, phones with the Extreme chipset are also expected to cost more, as the chip is more expensive for phone makers and LPDDR6 memory adds to the cost.
So if you already own a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 phone, I would not rush to upgrade. If you are buying a new flagship phone and want the best gaming and AI performance, I would recommend waiting for independent numbers to check sustained performance over longer runs. Finally, for an affordable flagship option, take a look at the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 chipset.
