Qualcomm Confirms Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Launch for November 26, With OnePlus Ace 6T First in Line

Qualcomm has finally given its next big chip a release date. After months of small hints and a steady stream of leaks, the company has confirmed on Weibo that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will be unveiled in China on November 26.

The announcement settles the timeline and gives us a clearer picture of how Qualcomm plans to stack this chip against the top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

The 8 Gen 5 sits one step below the Elite version, but still aims at the high-end crowd. If anything, it looks like Qualcomm wants to offer a flagship-level experience without going all the way into “ultra” territory.

Built on 3nm With Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU

At its September event, Qualcomm mentioned that the 8 Gen 5 is built on a 3nm process and uses the company’s custom Oryon CPU cores. The prime core reaches 3.8GHz, while the performance cores run at 3.32GHz. On paper, that’s already walking pretty close to the Elite Gen 5, which explains why people have been curious about where this chip actually sits.

If the leaks so far are accurate, the CPU performance should match last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite fairly closely. That alone should make a noticeable difference for gaming, multitasking and anything that depends on sustained compute power.

GPU Based on Elite Gen 5 Architecture

The GPU is where the difference between the Gen 5 and Elite Gen 5 becomes clearer. Qualcomm is expected to use the Adreno 840 here. It’s built on the same architecture as the Elite’s GPU but it runs slightly slower at around 1.2GHz. The performance gap should show up at higher resolutions or heavier workloads, though the scores so far suggest it still holds its own.

Leaks indicate that the chip can cross 3.3 million points on AnTuTu, and roughly 3,000 single-core and 10,000 multi-core on Geekbench 6. It also seems capable of touching around 100 frames per second in the Aztec 1440p benchmark. Taken together, the numbers point to a chip that feels very close to top-tier territory.

A Flagship Experience Without the Ultra Label

This generation feels interesting for Qualcomm. Instead of one clear flagship chip at the top, the company now has two options that are separated by smaller gaps. If the early numbers are right, users could see Elite-level CPU performance with just a small trade-off in GPU strength on the 8 Gen 5.

For manufacturers, this gives a little more room to price their phones aggressively without sacrificing too much power. It might also help keep heat and battery drain in check if the GPU runs at slightly lower frequencies.

These Phones Will Use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5

The rollout seems to be happening faster than usual. OnePlus will be the first to ship the chip in the OnePlus Ace 6T, which is launching this November. Vivo has also confirmed that the Vivo S50 Pro Mini will use the 8 Gen 5 when it arrives in December.

Honor is preparing its own take on the chip as well. The company is expected to launch the Honor GT 2 either in December or in early January. All three launches should give us a good sense of how the new chipset performs in real-world use.

Via