Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Could Break Performance Records

Qualcomm is preparing to make a big splash at its upcoming Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii later this month, and the tech world is buzzing with anticipation. The centerpiece of this event is expected to be the reveal of the company’s newest flagship processor, rumored to carry the name Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

This chip is positioned as the direct successor to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and if early leaks are accurate, it may redefine what we expect from mobile performance in 2025.

Earlier this year, insiders suggested that the new chipset – previously referred to as Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 – would deliver solid, incremental improvements, such as a 20–30% boost in single-core Geekbench results and a 10–15% bump in multi-core performance over its predecessor. Those numbers alone would have been enough to excite flagship smartphone enthusiasts. But fresh reports out of China hint at something much more dramatic, particularly when it comes to AnTuTu scores.

Just recently, MediaTek’s upcoming Dimensity 9500 was tipped to achieve around 4 million points on AnTuTu v11, setting a new bar for performance. However, Qualcomm’s answer may leapfrog this mark. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is now rumored to reach between 4.2 million and 4.4 million points. To put that into perspective, the current leader on AnTuTu’s chart, the Red Magic 10 Pro running on Snapdragon 8 Elite, sits at an average of about 2.67 million points on AnTuTu v10. If true, the next-gen chip could represent a monumental 58% leap in benchmark scores.

That kind of increase isn’t just incremental – it’s a generational shift that could affect everything from gaming fluidity and camera AI enhancements to power efficiency and thermal management in future flagship phones. Moreover, Qualcomm’s rumored results would give it an edge of 5–10% over the Dimensity 9500, a difference that might sway major smartphone makers deciding between the two platforms.

There is, however, an important caveat. Benchmark apps like AnTuTu evolve over time, and the leaked results for both the Dimensity 9500 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 come from version 11 of the app, while current listings rely on version 10. This means comparisons across versions aren’t always apples-to-apples, and real-world performance may play out differently than the synthetic numbers suggest. Still, the magnitude of the rumored leap is enough to turn heads.

As Qualcomm and MediaTek prepare to go head-to-head with these cutting-edge SoCs, smartphone fans can expect a wave of devices in the coming months showcasing unprecedented speed, efficiency, and new AI-driven features. The next chapter in the mobile performance race is about to begin, and by the looks of it, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 may take an early lead.