Qualcomm is gearing up to launch the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 at the Snapdragon Summit soon. The firm switched to the "Elite" naming scheme last year to represent its new custom Oryon cores, but recent rumours suggest the firm might be working on a new non-Elite chipset in the form of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5.
Recent reports suggest Qualcomm is developing a slightly more affordable SoC that would sit below the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. Well, according to Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Qualcomm could debut a rumoured chip with the codename SM8845.
Rumours suggest the SM8845 could boast a similar performance to the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The chipset was previously rumoured to be the Snapdragon 8s Gen 5 or Snapdragon 8s Elite, but the new information suggests Qualcomm could stick to calling it Snapdragon 8 Gen 5.
For those unaware, the Snapdragon 8 Elite was first internally referred to as Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Chances are, Qualcomm's internal codebase likely labels the 8 Elite as 8 Gen 4, which could explain the upcoming chip's name.
The Snapdragon Summit will be held between September 23 and 25, 2025, where Qualcomm is expected to unveil the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 and next-gen Snapdragon X series chipsets. We don’t know if the rumoured Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 SoC will be a part of the event or will launch much later.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 could feature Qualcomm’s third-generation Oryon cores, alongside a more powerful GPU. There could be two versions of the same – one manufactured on TSMC’s 3nm process and the other on Samsung’s 2nm process.
The latter is expected to be less expensive, but we’re not sure if it will be exclusive to the Galaxy S26 series or if other manufacturers can opt for it. With Samsung coming up with its own 2nm Exynos 2600 chipset and MediaTek also working on a 2nm Dimensity 9600, the processor wars could soon get interesting.
