The launch of the Snapdragon 8 Elite marked a significant milestone for Qualcomm, bringing back custom CPU cores for the first time in ten years. Paired with the transition to a 3nm fabrication process, the 8 Elite achieved impressive improvements across various metrics, securing its place as one of the fastest mobile platforms currently available.
Qualcomm is not resting on its laurels — the company is fast-tracking the release of this year’s flagship, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. This is a noteworthy development as it enables device manufacturers to introduce smartphones and tablets powered by this chipset sooner than before. Here’s what we know about the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 and its anticipated launch.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2: CPU
Returning to custom cores with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the 8 Elite 2 aims to enhance this framework. It is expected to feature a similar architecture, comprising two high-performance cores and six mid-size cores, likely also built on the 3nm process.
Intriguingly, a recent leak from China reveals the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2’s Geekbench performance, showing a single-core score exceeding 4,000 and a multi-core score surpassing 11,000, representing a significant enhancement over the 8 Elite. For context, the best score I achieved with the Snapdragon 8 Elite was 3,190 in single-core performance and 9,957 in multi-core.
Essentially, Qualcomm appears to be targeting a 30% increase in single-core tasks and up to 12% in multi-core scenarios. This is a considerable advancement, especially given the performance gap between the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the upcoming 8 Gen 3, making it exciting to witness Qualcomm achieve such improvements for another consecutive year.
Of course, these findings stem from a leak, so we will need to see how the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 performs in practical evaluations.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2: Gaming
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is an exceptional gaming chipset, offering significant overhead for running high-demand games. I experienced no issues achieving stable frame rates, even with all settings maxed out. The real constraint seems to lie in the gaming ecosystem on Android — we need to see console-quality games similar to those on iOS.
While Qualcomm has yet to reveal its plans for Adreno this year, I’d particularly like to see improvements in thermal performance. The Snapdragon 8 Elite tends to run hotter than previous iterations, leading to overheating in many devices despite robust thermal management solutions. Qualcomm must enhance thermal limits on the 8 Elite 2 to prevent this issue in 2026 flagship models.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite 2: Launch Date
Qualcomm has confirmed that it is expediting the launch window for the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. The chipset will be unveiled during the company’s annual Snapdragon Summit on September 23. Typically, Qualcomm schedules its launch event in Q4, with the first batch of devices featuring the latest chipset launching in Q1.
Clearly, they aim to shift this dynamic, and by debuting the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 sooner, Qualcomm positions it strategically alongside the forthcoming A19 — which will also be revealed around the same time.
While there is still much to learn about the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, including potential enhancements to camera capabilities and connectivity features, we can expect more details in the coming weeks, and I will update this post as information becomes available.