Qualcomm confirms Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 launch date

Initially slated to launch alongside the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 has been pushed back by a few weeks. The chip made its Geekbench debut earlier, and its performance matches that of its Elite variant in multi-core but lags in single-core. It now has an official release date.

Qualcomm will show off the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 on November 26 2025. Like the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, it will debut in China and eventually trickle down to other markets. One of the first chips slated to use it is the OnePlus Ace 6T. Other devices include the Vivo S50 and Vivo X Fold 6.

Specs-wise, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will mimic its Elite-branded counterpart with a 2+6 CPU core layout. The former (P cores) are clocked at 3.8 GHz while the latter (E cores) run at 3.36 GHz. On the GPU side, it will use the same Adreno 840 GPU found on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5- probably at a lower frequency.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 is the first non-flagship chip to employ Quacomm's in-house Orion cores. Whether or not they're the same ones found on the 8 Elite Gen 5 remain to be seen. Previous offerings, such as the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, stuck with off-the-shelf Arm Cortex IP.