Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite flagship smartphone SoC at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, featuring the second generation of its self-design Oryon core architecture. During the summit, Qualcomm introduced the new Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC with the brand-new naming system on smartphone SoC as well as phenomenal spec upgrades on Oryon CPU, Adreno GPU and Hexagon NPU. They also shared a lot of exciting applications and immersive use cases on AI smartphones. William Li, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research, sat down with Qualcomm’s Chris Patrick, SVP and General Manager for Mobile Handset, to discuss Snapdragon 8 Elite, smartphone compute and more.

The Interview:

Key Takeaways from the Discussion:

2nd Generation self-design Qualcomm Oryon CPU a breath of fresh air

• Shared with a similar structure from Snapdragon X Elite, Qualcomm optimized and improved the power and efficiency and finally launch the 2nd generation Oryon CPU
• The new CPU features 45% faster single-core CPU performance compared to the first-generation ones and requires 44% less power to reach the same computing performance.
• Brand-new sliced GPU, Hexagon NPU as well as AI ISP to improve processing performance and power efficiency.

AI ISP and Hexagon NPU are key to AI applications and ecosystem

• Qualcomm introduced upgraded AI ISP (with 33% increase on throughput) to better connect the image signal sensor and NPU
• The accelerated Hexagon NPU could optimize multiple use cases and multi-modal scenarios

Adreno GPU upgrades for better user and gaming experience

• This time Qualcomm offered 40% faster performance on GPU, 35% increased ray tracing performance and saving 40% power compared to previous model.
• The sliced GPUs can provide more incredible performance while saving more power on the specialized modularized design.

Qualcomm continues to provide cutting-edge connectivity technology

• 5G modem X80 can support increasing AI workload and deliver seamless connectivity capabilities as Qualcomm always did.
• 6 nm FastConnect 7900 is also here in Snapdragon 8 Elite to combine Wifi 7, Bluetooth and Ultra Wideband to support AI applications.

AI makes things more challenging, while Qualcomm's got well-prepared for it

• Qualcomm's AI hub and AI stacks are welcoming developers to work with them to build up a perfect AI platform.
• Qualcomm is working closely with Meta, Microsoft and a lot of partners to accelerate more AI related launches in the future.

Analyst takeaways:

• Snapdragon 8 Elite brings AI smartphone performance to another level. Qualcomm claims to offer unparalleled computing performance, lower power consumption, and longer battery life which allow us to have better user experience on AI functions. Although we are in the beginning of AI era, it's always necessary and crucial to have AI-enabled ready, and Snapdragon 8 Elite will be no doubt the best chip at the moment.
• New Oryon CPU refreshes people's thought about chip architecture. The 2 prime cores + 6 performance cores architecture is totally different than what we currently have in our smartphones, which were based on the mix of performance cores and efficiency cores to better allocate limited battery life in a single smartphone, especially when dealing with heavy and light duties simultaneously. Qualcomm highlights that its self-design prime + performance core architecture could allow users to more efficiently balance performance and power efficiency compared to its previous version.
• The Hexagon NPU upgrades boost generative AI capability with Adreno GPU to increase gaming experience. AI smartphones, especially flagship models, are the main targets of Snapdragon 8 Elite. Thus, Qualcomm focused not only on CPUs but also NPUs and GPUs to enhance the chip performance when dealing with AI applications and use cases as well as playing mobile games on the smartphone. After all, there are more gamers spending more time playing games with their smartphone everywhere, and Snapdragon 8 Elite will no doubt improve their gaming experience for them.
• Snapdragon 8 Elite cements Qualcomm's technology leadership on smartphone and AI. With powerful spec upgrades and a lot of design-wins in pipeline, we believe Qualcomm will continue to be the leader in the smartphone chip industry. The company also demonstrated its determination to collaborate with partners in the field of AI, leveraging AI hub and AI stacks to pave the way for AI the expand and solidify the whole AI ecosystem.