The 7-core Snapdragon 8 Elite is official and that’s how powerful it is

Qualcomm hit the table at the end of 2024 with the presentation of the Snapdragon 8 Elitethe most powerful Android mobile processor on the market. Immediately, most manufacturers announced their plans to integrate the new chip into their future smartphones, with few exceptions. Now, Qualcomm has launched a new version of this processor, but the launch couldn’t be more different, because it has done so practically in secret.

The new 7-core Snapdragon 8 Elite is exactly what its name suggests: it is exactly the same processor that was announced a few months ago, but with 7 cores instead of 8. A difference that seems too small to be worth launching a new product, but that can actually be very important and that will be taken advantage of by several smartphone models that will be launched throughout 2025.

Let us remember that The Snapdragon 8 Elite has a 2+6 core configuration to cover all types of tasks and offer leading performance in any app. The two leading cores are the Oryon Prime, capable of reaching a frequency of up to 4.32 GHz, and are the ones used in the most demanding games and tasks. They come accompanied by six Oryon Performance cores, which reach a frequency of only 3.53 GHz but consume less energy; These are the cores that are used in the vast majority of situations, activating the Prime cores only when strictly necessary.

The new version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite has a 2+5 core configuration. In effect, that means that the core that has been removed is an Oryon Performance, the less powerful one. Otherwise, the rest of the features are identical, and the cores reach the same frequency and the chip has the same AI capabilities with the same NPU (neural processing unit). The core difference is enough to receive a new version number, SM8750-3-AB (the original is SM8750-AB) and technically, it is a different processor.

Now, does removing one of the less powerful cores really make a difference? And why launch a chip like this? Until we have a mobile phone with this processor in our hands, we will not be able to clearly answer the first question; but the first leaks suggest that, surprisingly, yes there is a difference, but it depends on the mobile.

A Geekbench 6 test has been made public, comparing the performance of the new OPPO Find N5, which will be one of the first phones to use the new 7-core Snapdragon 8 Elite, with the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra that will be presented this week and it has the 8-core Snapdragon 8 Elite. According to tests, the new 7-core processor has 14% lower performance in multicore tasks.

However, an important detail must be clarified: the processor of the Galaxy S25 Ultra It is ‘overclocked’ and does not work at the base frequency; Its Prime cores run at 4.47 GHz instead of the usual 4.32 GHz. Additionally, single-core performance between the two chips is virtually identical. According to Mishaal Rahman, the difference between a 7-core Snapdragon 8 Elite and an 8-core one at the base frequency is only 7% in Geekbench and 2% in AnTuTu.

In practice, users are unlikely to notice much of a difference between the 7-core and 8-core Snapdragon 8 Elite; although enthusiasts and gamers will probably prefer the latter. This small sacrifice has been made for a simple reason: for the new thinner folding phones.

New folding mobile models like the aforementioned OPPO Find N5 are the thinnest developed to date, and that means they also have less space dedicated to heat dissipation. By having one less core, the new Snapdragon 8 Elite model emits less heat and that makes it ideal for folding phones. That also explains why Qualcomm has given so little hype to this launch: the 7-core Snapdragon 8 Elite has simply appeared in Qualcomm’s documentation without any type of announcement.