A while back, it came to light that Qualcomm is reading a new high-end processor alongside the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. Expected to get unveiled at the Snapdragon Summit in September 2025, the SoC is now revealed to release as a true Snapdragon 8-series flagship chipset.
Leaker Digital Chat Station (DCS) took to Weibo to reveal details about the upcoming high-end SoC, dubbed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. The processor with the model number SM8845 is expected to share the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2's peripherals.
It is said to be developed using TSMC's advanced 3nm (N3P) process node and share the same Oryon cores that debuted with the 2024 Snapdragon 8 Elite and is expected to form the core system configuration of the 8 Elite 2 mobile platform.
So, expect the chip to bear on octa-core architecture with 2nd-gen Oryon CPU and the Adreno 830 GPU. Additionally, DCS also claims that the SME (Scalable Matrix Extension) instruction set which is used for on-device AI acceleration, is also present here just like the 8 Elite 2.
This new information is in line with what the tipster claimed a while back when it mentioned the existence of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor.
This makes sense since DCS believes that the 8 Gen 5 will neither build upon the existing Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 (SM8735) processor nor be a repackaged version of an existing Qualcomm chipset. It is said to be positioned as an entirely flagship-grade 8 series chipset.
Furthermore, in the comments section, DCS has mentioned that there is no SM8835 processor in the work this time. This could mean that Qualcomm is not launching an "8s" chipset in 2025.
So, if we go by this new revelation, at the Snapdragon Summit next month, we may witness the launch of the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 (SM8850), the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 Leading Version (SM8850S), and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 (SM8845).
That said, the new 8 Gen 5 chipset could debut alongside the upcoming Redmi K90 smartphone in China. Apart from Redmi, we might see this SoC getting used for late 2025 and/or early 2026 Honor and Realme releases like the GT 2 and Neo 8, respectively.
