Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 are both flagship chips made by Qualcomm. In Geekbench 6, the two chips are nearly level in multi-core (9,680 vs 9,568), but the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is 26% faster in single-core.
Benchmarks head to head
Full chipset rankingMulti-core Geekbench 6
Nearly levelSingle-core Geekbench 6
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 +26%Graphics 3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Higher is better. Bars are relative to the faster chip in each test. A dash means we don’t have a reliable result for that chip yet.
Key facts
Specs from the chip makers. The better result in each benchmark is highlighted.
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Qualcomm | Qualcomm |
| Class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | Sep 2026 | Nov 2025 |
| Process | 2 nm TSMC N2P | 3 nm TSMC N3P |
| CPU | 8 cores 2× 5.0 GHz + 6× 4.0 GHz | 8 cores 2× 3.8 GHz + 6× 3.32 GHz |
| Max CPU speed | 5 GHz | 3.8 GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 845 | Adreno 829 |
| 5G modem | Built-in 5G | Built-in 5G |
| Place in our ranking | #10 of 109 (better) | #11 of 109 |
| Geekbench 6 single-core | 3,620 (better) | 2,864 |
| Geekbench 6 multi-core | 9,680 | 9,568 |
| Graphics (3DMark Steel Nomad Light) | — | 1,938 |
| Phones in our database | 1 phone | 7 phones |
| Best-rated phone | Xiaomi 18 Pro 8.6 | Motorola Signature 9.0 |
| Lowest US launch price | — | $700 OnePlus 15R |
| Newest phone | Xiaomi 18 Pro Sep 2026 | vivo X300 E Jul 2026 |
Phones with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6
1 phone in our database, best rated first.
-
8.6
Xiaomi 18 Pro
6.4″ 120 Hz, 200 MP camera, 7,000 mAh
No US price + Compare
Phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5
7 phones in our database, best rated first.
-
9.0
Motorola Signature
6.8″ 165 Hz, 50 MP camera, 5,200 mAh
No US price + Compare -
8.9
vivo X300 FE
6.31″ 120 Hz, 50 MP camera, 6,500 mAh
No US price + Compare -
8.9
Motorola Razr Fold
8.1″ 120 Hz, 50 MP camera, 6,000 mAh
From $1,899.99 + Compare -
8.3
Motorola Edge 70 Max
6.82″ 144 Hz, 50 MP camera, 7,100 mAh
No US price + Compare
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 5: FAQ
Which is faster, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5?
In Geekbench 6, the two chips are nearly level in multi-core (9,680 vs 9,568), but the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is 26% faster in single-core. Real-world speed also depends on how well each phone keeps the chip cool and on its software.
Which is newer, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5?
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 is newer: it was announced in September 2026, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 was announced in November 2025.
Which phones use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5?
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 powers one phone in our database: the Xiaomi 18 Pro. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 powers 7 phones in our database, including the Motorola Signature, vivo X300 FE and Motorola Razr Fold. The lowest US launch price with this chip is $700, for the OnePlus 15R.
Where do these benchmark scores come from?
They are reference results for each chip: the median of several Geekbench 6 runs on retail phones. The 3DMark Steel Nomad Light graphics score is the median of the results for retail phones with the chip in the official ranking of UL, the maker of 3DMark. The same chip can score a little differently from phone to phone, depending on cooling, clock speeds and software.
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