Qualcomm's New Snapdragon Chips Will Power Next Year's Top Android Phones
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and a stronger Extreme version are built on a 2nm process and lean hard on AI that runs on the phone.
Qualcomm announced its next pair of flagship phone chips on September 22. They are the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. Chips like these end up inside most high-end Android phones, so they set the bar for next year's best devices.
Faster and More Efficient
Both chips are made on a 2nm process, which packs more parts into less space. The main processor has two top cores that run at 5GHz and six more that run at 4GHz.
Qualcomm says the standard Elite Gen 6 is 10 percent faster than last year's chip and 37 percent more power efficient. Better efficiency usually means longer battery life. The Extreme version claims a 13 percent speed gain and a redesigned graphics chip.
Built for AI on the Phone
The Extreme chip adds 18MB of fast memory set aside just for AI work. Qualcomm says its AI engine can run large models with more than 30 billion parameters right on the phone. That means features that work without sending your data to the cloud.
Cameras and Connections
Both chips use Qualcomm's new X105 5G modem, which the company says boosts download speeds by 10 percent. The Extreme chip can record 8K video at 60 frames a second and 4K slow motion at 240 frames a second.
When You Will See Them
Motorola has already named the Signature 27 as a phone that uses the Extreme chip. More phone makers usually follow over the coming months. If you are shopping for a top Android phone, it may be worth waiting to see what arrives with these chips inside.
Questions Readers Ask
Will my current phone get faster?
No. These chips go into new phones. If you want one, look for flagship Android phones announced over the next several months.
What does on-device AI mean?
It means the phone runs AI features itself instead of sending your data to a server. That can be faster and more private.
Where This Came From
We confirmed the facts in this story against these reports. The words above are our own.
