Qualcomm is all set to launch its flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 processor earlier this year, in September 2025. It's said to redefine smartphone SoC performance, with third-gen Oryon CPU alongside a powerful upgrade to the Adreno GPU. However, rumours have it that the 8 Elite 2 will not be the only high-end processor Qualcomm has in its pipeline.
According to leaker Digital Chat Station (DCS), Qualcomm is actively working to launch a new high-end smartphone processor this year, which will position itself separately than the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset. To recall, Qualcomm's 2025 edition of Snapdragon Summit will be held this year from September 23 to September 25, 2025.
The unnamed SoC (codename: SM8845) will likely sit between the current Snapdragon 8 Elite and the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. It is expected to be a slightly enhanced variant of the 8 Elite, developed using TSMC's advanced 3nm (N3P) process node and borrow some of the 8 Elite 2 peripherals.
From the looks of it, this could very well be the Snapdragon 8s Gen 5 chipset, set to replace the current Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor. It is expected to be an octa-core processor featuring 2nd-gen Oryon CPU and the Adreno 830 GPU, a similar set of configuration as that of the 8 Elite.
However, unlike the Qualcomm 8 Elite chipset, it will likely feature overclocked CPU cores to give the SoC that performance edge. For context, the current 8 Elite has 2x 2nd-gen Oryon cores clocked at 4.32GHz and 6x 2nd-gen Oryon cores clocked at 3.53GHz. If true, this will be the first "S" series processor from Snapdragon to come with Orion CPU cores.
DCS claims that the new SoC will be used by brands like Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus to power their 2025 and 2026 "flagship killer" devices. Smartphones with this chipset will be able to equip up to 8,000mAh batteries and will also support Ray Tracing and on-device multimodal AI support.
With that said, nothing is confirmed as of yet. So, take this development with a grain of salt. It will be interesting to see how Qualcomm treats the current 8 Elite once the new overclocked variant of it is released. This might bring the cost down of the current 8 Elite, making it the ideal choice for smartphones at the Rs 50,000 price bracket in India.
