Don’t Buy a Flagship Yet — Waiting for Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Phones Could Save You From Regret

Qualcomm's latest flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, breaks benchmark records and is the fastest mobile processor right now. But the raw power comes at a steep cost. Driven by rising prices at TSMC, the phones powered by the newest "Elite" chip are soaring past the Rs 70,000 mark, which is a tough pill to swallow for many.

Fortunately, Qualcomm anticipated this and has introduced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor. Think of it as the Elite's sensible sibling, as it shares the same flagship DNA but strips away the excess to balance out the price tag. Which brings us to the main reasons why waiting for Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 phones might be your smartest move this year.

1

You still get the "Elite" architecture

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 might lack the "Elite" moniker, but it has the characteristics of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset. For starters, it features the same 3rd-generation Oryon cores as its expensive counterpart. The main difference lies in the clock speeds, where the 8 Gen 5's 2x prime cores are clocked much lower at 3.8 GHz (vs 4.6 GHz on the 8 Elite Gen 5).

But let's be real. Flagship smartphones have hit the law of diminishing returns. An extra 800 MHz looks great on the spec sheet, but in day-to-day usage, that difference is virtually imperceptible to the eye. Unless you're pushing our phone to its absolute thermal limits, which we will get to in a bit, the 8 Gen 5 offers an identical experience.

Both processors also utilise TSMC's latest N3P process. Overall, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 arguably delivers a better price-to-performance ratio than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

2

A GPU that can do more than just game

Historically, buying a cheaper phone meant settling for a weaker GPU. That's not the case with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, as it comes with the Adreno 840 GPU. It's the same GPU found in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. However, its non-elite counterpart lacks High Performance Memory. The 8 Gen 5 has two GPU slices instead of three on the 8 Elite Gen 5 and last year's 8 Elite.

Therefore, the 8 Gen 5 isn't as good as the previous generation 8 Elite and far behind the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in raw performance, but this structural difference might actually be a blessing in disguise for the average gamer (more about that in a bit). Furthermore, the 8 Gen 5 still has hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading, ensuring you still get the best visuals. This brings us to the thermals.

3

Better battery life and thermals

Early benchmarks of the 8 Elite Gen 5 have revealed excessive overheating and throttling issues, likely due to the extreme CPU clock speeds and GPU. On the other hand, by utilising slightly slower cores and fewer GPU slices, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 should generate significantly less heat, which could lead to better sustained performance.

This allows it to sustain high frame rates in graphics-intensive games for longer periods without the aggressive thermal throttling. In real-world scenarios, stability always triumphs over peak benchmark scores. Considering modern Android games still cannot utilise the full potential of smartphone GPUs, it makes much more sense to pick a stable experience over 10 minutes of great gameplay followed by throttling and overheating.

4

The sweet spot pricing

Lastly, the number one reason to buy a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5-powered phone is due to its affordable price point. The first phones powered by this chip are expected to land in the Rs 40,000 to Rs 55,000 bracket. This aggressively undercuts the Rs 70,000 price tag of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered phones like the OnePlus 15, Realme GT 8 Pro and iQOO 15.

For starters, the OnePlus 15R is expected to arrive at around the Rs 45,000 mark, whereas manufacturers like iQOO with its Neo series and Vivo with its X300 FE might price their phones even more aggressively. Therefore, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will be significantly less expensive to the 8 Elite Gen 5 or even the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is a flagship killer in all aspects, and is easily worth waiting for if you're limited in terms of budget. It offers the latest 3nm tech, next-gen Oryon CPU cores, while still being more than capable of playing demanding games. Waiting for phones like the OnePlus 15R will be rewarding, as you'd be purchasing a phone that doesn't break the bank and will be future-proof for years to come.