Archive · 23 Sep 2026
Qualcomm Unveils Dual Snapdragon Chips for AI Flagship Phones
Qualcomm has announced two new chips for powerful smartphones.
They are called the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6.
The chips help phones run apps, games, cameras, and artificial-intelligence features.
Their AI hardware can process some information directly on the phone instead of sending it to cloud servers.
This could make certain tasks faster and may help keep personal information on the device.
The chips can also support features that remember how people use their phones and suggest automated tasks.
Qualcomm says the Extreme version is faster than the standard version in several areas.
New graphics tools can help with game visuals, while camera hardware supports high-resolution video.
Motorola, Xiaomi, and other phone companies are preparing devices with the processors.
Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and higher-tier 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 processors.
Both chips use custom 64-bit Oryon CPUs, Adreno GPUs, and reengineered Hexagon NPUs for on-device AI.
Qualcomm claims the standard chip improves CPU performance, power efficiency, graphics, and NPU performance over the previous generation.
The Extreme model is advertised with larger CPU, GPU, and NPU gains, including up to 5.0 GHz Prime-core speeds.
Motorola, Xiaomi, and other manufacturers have announced or planned flagship phones using the new Snapdragon platforms.
- Who
- Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 series; Motorola, Xiaomi, and other manufacturers announced or planned phones using the chips.
- What
- Two flagship smartphone processors designed for high performance, graphics, and on-device AI.
- When
- Qualcomm announced them at its 2026 Snapdragon Summit; participating phones are expected to debut by late 2026.
- Why
- The chips are intended to improve smartphone performance, power efficiency, gaming, imaging, and local AI processing.
- Processors
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6
- CPU architecture
- Custom 64-bit Qualcomm Oryon CPU with two Prime cores and six Performance cores
- Clock speeds
- Prime cores reach up to 5.0 GHz; Performance cores reach up to 4.0 GHz
- Memory and storage
- Up to 24GB LPDDR5x/6 RAM, memory speeds up to 5,300 MHz, and UFS 5.0 storage
- Standard-model claims
- 10% better CPU performance, 37% better power efficiency, 35% better graphics, and 14% better NPU performance
- Extreme-model claims
- 13% better CPU performance, 44% better graphics or GPU performance, and 35% better NPU performance; one report also attributes a 37% power-efficiency gain to this model
- AI and media features
- Local Personal Scribe, contextual usage memory, gaming AI tools, 8K video at 60 fps, and 4K slow-motion video at 240 fps
- Reported specification discrepancy
- One report says the chips can run models of up to 30 billion parameters locally, while another cites sensing hubs supporting models of up to 200 million parameters
