Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, adds a more powerful Extreme version

Qualcomm has announced two new flagship smartphone processors, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. Both are built using a 2-nanometer process and share many components, including their modems, display specifications, security features, GPS support, and memory and storage capabilities.

The core CPU layout is identical between the two versions, with two large cores running at up to 5GHz and six performance cores reaching up to 4GHz. Despite this, Qualcomm states that the Extreme version delivers slightly better performance across the CPU, GPU, and NPU (neural processing unit).

Key differences

The most notable advantage of the Extreme chip lies in video capture. It supports 8K resolution at 60 frames per second, 4K at 240 frames per second, and the new Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec. The Extreme version also features a larger shared memory pool for the NPU, enabling faster and more efficient AI processing. Its GPU includes dedicated AI matrix cores that provide a modest gaming performance boost when AI features are in use.

Since the base performance of both chips is similar, manufacturers face a real choice in deciding whether to adopt the Extreme version. Motorola is the first company to confirm it will use the Extreme chip, in its newly announced Signature 27 flagship. Qualcomm has also stated that both new chips will be adopted by Vivo, Xiaomi, Oppo, Honor, iQoo, Nubia, OnePlus, Redmi, Redmagic, and ZTE.

The two Gen 6 chips mark Qualcomm's first move into 2-nanometer manufacturing, joining Apple's A20 Pro and MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro as the first chips to bring this new scale of production to smartphones.