Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, explains unique naming strategy

The Snapdragon Summit is slated to happen from September 23 to September 25. This two-day event will be held in Maui, Hawaii, and during this event, Qualcomm will unveil its next-generation processor. However, ahead of the summit, Qualcomm has announced that its next-gen processor will be known as Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

Interestingly, the last generation chipset was called the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and Qualcomm's naming of its new processor, 8 Elite Gen 5, doesn't sound in sync. To clear the air, Qualcomm has published a dedicated post explaining why the company is going ahead with this naming scheme.

The new name suggests that Qualcomm has skipped multiple generations. To their defense, the company says that since this will be the fifth generation processor in Qualcomm Snapdragon's 8-series processors, they added the suffix "Gen 5." In Qualcomm's words;

It might look like we skipped generations, but the truth is simpler — and more powerful. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 marks the fifth generation of our premium 8-series platforms since we introduced our new single digit naming and visual identity. By aligning with Gen 5, we’re reinforcing its leadership position and simplifying how consumers understand our product roadmap.

So, based on the information, here are the names of the entire 8-series chipset:

• Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
• Snapdragon 8 Elite
• Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Leading Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has already announced that the Xiaomi 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max will feature the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor. Just like every year, Samsung will also use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor inside their next year's flagship, the Galaxy S26 series. There are also reports that Samsung could use the 2nm process-based Exynos 2600 inside the S26 series.

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Posted Monday 15 September 2025 at 4:35 pm AEST (my time).

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