Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Chip With In-House Oryon Cores Is Here

Qualcomm has officially launched its new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor at its annual Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Hawaii. The new flagship chipset showcases the company's first deployment of custom-designed Oryon cores, leveraging expertise from its acquisition of Nuvia. 

The chipmaker also hosted the first India edition of Snapdragon Summit in New Delhi on Wednesday, giving details of the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chip.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite represents a departure from Qualcomm's traditional reliance on Arm's Cortex cores. While still using Arm's v8.7-A instruction set architecture, the chip features a unique dual-core configuration with two prime cores at 4.32 GHz and six performance cores at 3.53 GHz, leaving the conventional three-tier core structure.

Also read: Arm Moves to Cancel Qualcomm’s Chip Design License, Escalating Dispute

Snapdragon 8 Elite Built On TSMC's 3nm N3E Process

Manufactured on TSMC's advanced 3nm N3E process -- the same technology employed by competitors Apple and MediaTek -- Qualcomm claims the new chip delivers 44 per cent better power efficiency compared to its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

The integrated Hexagon NPU claims a reported 60 per cent improvement in AI performance, while the updated Adreno 750 GPU brings hardware-accelerated ray tracing and 4K/144Hz display support. Qualcomm claims a 25 per cent graphics performance increase over the previous generation.

The newly branded AI ISP (formerly Spectra) increases processing capability to 4.3 gigapixels per second, supporting configurations up to 320MP for still images. The platform includes advanced connectivity features through the Snapdragon X80 5G modem and FastConnect 7900 system, offering multi-gigabit speeds and integrated Wi-Fi 7 support.

Qualcomm's aptX Lossless technology enables high-fidelity audio streaming, while the XPAN system provides extended audio coverage through Wi-Fi 7. The chip also introduces enhanced proximity features for object tracking and access control through its UWB technology.