What you need to know
- Qualcomm has confirmed its next flagship chipset will be called Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, not Snapdragon 8 Elite 2.
- The new name reflects the fifth generation of Qualcomm’s premium 8-series chips.
- The “Gen 5” label simplifies the roadmap, while “Elite” marks the highest tier in Snapdragon family.
- Xiaomi 17 series and Samsung Galaxy S26 are expected to debut with the new chip.
It’s been almost a year since Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which means it’s time for the next-generation flagship. While many wondered it would be called Snapdragon 8 Elite 2, since Qualcomm diverged from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 naming with the launch of the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the company has confirmed its next chip will be called Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
While it may look like Qualcomm is changing the naming scheme again, that isn’t quite the case. In its press release, the company explained that while it may look like “we skipped generations,” the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 name highlights the fact that this is the fifth generation of its premium 8-series platforms since it adopted the single-digit naming convention back in 2021.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite branding itself is still fairly new. Qualcomm says that the Snapdragon 8 Elite was introduced as a new tier in its flagship portfolio. It was the first processor with the Oryon CPU brought to smartphones, delivering “unprecedented performance gains” and hence “debuted as a standalone platform.”
With Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the company says it wants to simplify how consumers understand its roadmap. The “Gen 5” label is meant to highlight the fifth generation of the 8-series since 2021, while the “Elite” name continues to represent the very highest level of performance available in the Snapdragon family.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will be unveiled on September 23
Qualcomm also says Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is “part of a broader roadmap,” with more upcoming mobile platforms expected to adopt the Gen 5 naming. Qualcomm is set to officially announce the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 at its Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, which kicks off on September 23, 2025.
On a related note, Xiaomi has confirmed that its upcoming Xiaomi 17 series will be one of the first flagships powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, though no launch date has been shared just yet. We also expect the Samsung Galaxy S26 series to feature the new chipset.
