The Snapdragon 8s Elite won’t get Oryon cores – it’s an improvement on the 8s Gen 3, not an alternative to the flagship
By ForGeeks A fresh leak reveals key details about the upcoming Snapdragon 8s Elite chipset from Qualcomm. Despite the ambitious name, the processor will not turn out to be a flagship solution, but rather an improved version of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. The main disappointment is the absence of Oryon user cores, which the older Snapdragon 8 Elite is equipped with.
The chip will retain the ARM Cortex architecture, rather than switching to Qualcomm’s custom designs. It will be manufactured on 4nm process, like the 8s Gen 3, as opposed to the more advanced 3nm process of the 8 Elite.
The chip will be manufactured on 4nm process, like the 8s Gen 3, as opposed to the more advanced 3nm process of the 8 Elite.
The 8s Elite also changes the cluster structure from 1+4+3 to 1+3+4, but the core type remains the same. The main core Cortex-X4 runs at 3.21GHz (vs. 3.0GHz in the 8s Gen 3), the three Cortex-A720 cores run at 3.01 GHz, two others at 2.8 GHz, and two energy-efficient Cortex-A520 cores at 2.02 GHz. By comparison, the Snapdragon 8 Elite offers two custom Oryon cores at 4.32GHz and six performance Oryon cores at 3.53GHz.
Snapdragon 8 Elite offers two custom Oryon cores at 4.32GHz.
The video part also speaks to the mid-range positioning. The new Adreno 825 GPU is more powerful than the Adreno 735 in the 8s Gen 3, but is inferior to the top-end Adreno 830 in the 8 Elite. The first benchmarks show a score of around 2 million points in AnTuTu, which puts the 8s Elite between the other two chips in the lineup -it’s more powerful than the 8s Gen 3, but clearly weaker than the true flagship.
The chip has already been seen in devices like the iQOO Z10 Turbo Pro, confirming its focus on the upper mid-range segment. Qualcomm clearly isn’t looking to replace the flagship, but rather offer an affordable processor with high performance without encroaching on Snapdragon 8 Elite sales.
Although no official release date has been announced yet, leaks show the company’s development vector: creating intermediate solutions between mid-range and top-end while avoiding internal competition in the chip lineup.
