Qualcomm’s next chip for Android flagships may be called ‘Snapdragon 8 Elite’

Ben Schoon | Sep 26 2024 - 11:15 am PT

Qualcomm is set to unveil its next chipset soon and, with it being a major update, the company is apparently updating its branding with the new chip to be called “Snapdragon 8 Elite.”

After several years with increasingly confusing branding for its chips, Qualcomm introduced the simpler “Snapdragon 8 Gen 1” style branding in late 2021. With that having continued for the past couple of years, it was expected that the company’s upcoming flagship would be called “Snapdragon 8 Gen 4,” but it seems that’s not the case.

A leaked promotional image spotted by SmartPrix – seemingly since deleted from Weibo – reveals the name “Snapdragon 8 Elite” for Qualcomm’s upcoming chip. The image was a teaser for the upcoming Xiaomi 15 series. Tipster Digital Chat Station also hinted at the rebrand in a post.

This rebrand comes at a time that feels rather early, but also makes sense given what this new chip will bring to the table. “Snapdragon 8 Elite” is expected to adopt Qualcomm’s Oryon cores, the same ones used in the Snapdragon X Elite laptop chips, for a significant power boost. Still, it’s rather interesting to see Qualcomm give up on its previous naming scheme this quickly. Presumably, though, it will still be used on lower-end chips that aren’t using Oryon.

Qualcomm is set to launch these new chips in October, as was confirmed earlier this year.

The first devices expected to use “Snapdragon 8 Elite” include Xiaomi 15 and OnePlus 13, and the Galaxy S25 series is expected to exclusively use Qualcomm’s flagship chip.