Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Snapdragon 8s Gen 4: How Qualcomm’s New Chips Stack Up

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While both the Snapdragon 8 Elite and the 8s Gen 4 share the same naming family, they cater to different segments of the smartphone market. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is Qualcomm’s top-tier chip, packed with cutting-edge performance, advanced AI capabilities, and high-end multimedia features. It’s built for flagship devices that push the limits of mobile technology. In contrast, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is a more cost-effective option. It carries over some of the core technologies from the Elite model but makes deliberate compromises in areas like GPU power, camera features, and AI processing. This makes it ideal for premium mid-range phones that aim to deliver strong performance without the flagship price tag.

If you’re trying to decide whether the 8s Gen 4 will be “good enough” or whether you need to stick with the full-fat 8 Elite, it helps to look at how these two chipsets compare beyond just the marketing headlines.

CPU and Performance

The biggest performance divide between these two chips comes down to custom CPU design. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Elite features Qualcomm’s in-house Oryon cores, built for high clock speeds (up to 4.47 GHz) and significant gains—up to 45% better performance and 44% greater efficiency over the previous generation. These are not just tuned ARM designs; they're purpose-built for top-tier performance.

In contrast, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 sticks with a Kryo CPU setup, using a mix of optimized ARM cores: one Cortex-X4 at 3.2GHz and seven Cortex-A720s at varying clock speeds. It still delivers solid performance—up to 31% faster and 39% more power-efficient than its predecessor—but it’s not in the same league as the 8 Elite.

AI and On-Device Intelligence

Both chips include a Hexagon NPU, but the capabilities diverge. The 8 Elite leads with wider precision support (INT4 to FP16), on-device AI personalization, multimodal processing, and an advanced Sensing Hub for real-time contextual awareness.

The 8s Gen 4 also benefits from Hexagon upgrades, including 2x memory bandwidth, which boosts AI efficiency. However, it lacks the Elite’s top-tier AI features like higher precision processing and deeper GenAI integrations. It's powerful, but scaled back.

Graphics and Gaming

The 8 Elite’s Adreno GPU brings major upgrades: up to 40% better performance and efficiency, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and support for Unreal Engine 5.3 with Nanite, Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.0, and Snapdragon Game Super Resolution 2.0—delivering console-quality visuals and smoother gameplay.

The 8s Gen 4 supports many of the same gaming tools (ray tracing, Game Super Resolution, Adaptive Performance Engine), but misses out on Frame Motion Engine and full Unreal Engine support. It uses a similar GPU “sliced” architecture, but with two slices instead of three, which translates into lower peak performance.

Connectivity

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is powered by the X80 modem, boasting 10 Gbps peak downloads, 6x carrier aggregation, dual SIM, Wi-Fi 7, UWB, and support for Qualcomm’s 5G AI Suite Gen 3 for smarter network management.

The 8s Gen 4 uses a more modest modem system—4.2 Gbps peak speeds, 4x4 MIMO, and no UWB—but still includes Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Snapdragon Seamless for cross-device features.

Imaging and Multimedia

Both chips feature Qualcomm’s Spectra AI ISP, but the 8 Elite goes further with real-time semantic segmentation, AI-powered relighting, ultra-low-light video, and compliance with Truepic’s C2PA standard for content authenticity.

The 8s Gen 4 includes a lighter feature set—Night Vision 2.0, HDR support, and up to 250 segmentation layers—delivering strong results, though not at the same professional-grade level.

Display, Audio, and Charging

The 8 Elite supports QHD+ at 240Hz, external 8K displays, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, Snapdragon Sound with aptX Lossless, and Quick Charge 5.

The 8s Gen 4 offers similar display and audio support—minus external 8K—and includes Wi-Fi audio (XPAN) and fast charging via Quick Charge 5.

Final Thoughts

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Elite is a no-compromise SoC built for smartphones that want the absolute best—in performance, AI, multimedia, and gaming. It’s meant for top-tier flagships.

The 8s Gen 4, by contrast, brings many of those features to a more accessible level. It’s designed for premium mid-range phones, delivering competitive power and smart features without the premium price tag.

Bottom line:

  • Want the best of everything? Go with the 8 Elite.

  • Want great performance at a lower cost? The 8s Gen 4 hits the sweet spot.


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