The Snapdragon 8 Elite powers most of the best Android phones , and brings a Brobdingnagian growth in power for CPU , GPU , and NPU tasks . However , one of the key problems facing Qualcomm is the current movement of thin phones , as theSnapdragon 8 Eliterequires better cooling to efficaciously disperse heat .
The companionship ’s reply ? The 7 - sum Snapdragon 8 Elite . It is basically the same chipset but with one carrying out core polish off in favor of better cooling and warmth dissipation . It ’s idealistic for gimmick like the world ’s thinnest folding — theOppo discovery N5 — which uses the new chipset .
Losing one performance core may be an satisfactory sacrifice for the promise of good electric battery life , but does it deliver ? Qualcomm tell it is around 14 percent slow than the overclocked 8 - core variant , but what do the benchmarks show , and is this a worthy compromise ? I try out both variance to find out .
The phones used for testing
It ’s deserving mention the phones that I used for test each central processing unit , and the methods used for examination . For the benchmarks , we ’ve picked two well - known benchmarks that we also apply to benchmark phones for our review : GeekBench 6 and 3DMark . More on this below .
Each headphone maker has unlike optimizations in software , and different sound add up with varying degrees and types of RAM and store . To account for these variance , we picked theOnePlus 13which is powered by the 8 - core Snapdragon 8 Elite and has the close experience to the Oppo Find N5 .
The Oppo Find N5 is the first phone to execute the new 7 - inwardness Snapdragon 8 Elite , which is necessitated by its thin visibility that measures just 4.2 millimetre compact when unfolded . I have only spent a couple of days with the novel foldable , so it ’s too other to mouth about overall functioning , but many of the findings below are also prevalent in actual - world utilization .
Testing the difference that 1 core makes
To examine the differences between the two chipsets , we run a serial of three benchmarks multiple times on the Oppo discovery N5 and calculated the average of the answer . We ’ve previously tested the OnePlus 13 multiple times so used an norm of those answer .
Where possible , I ’ve also included additional results on gimmick running both the Snapdragon 8 Elite and other processors , as quiz by myself or my colleagues . It ’s deserving note that most of these phones also have alike specs , but have difference in the rest of the specs bundle .
For GeekBench , I start the C.P.U. and GPU tests , resulting in three scores for single - core and multi - core CPU carrying out , and GPU performance under gruelling loads .
Unsurprisingly , one fewer performance core has a large impingement on all tasks . While the CPU performance is in line with the Mediatek Dimensity 9400 — and the Oppo breakthrough N5 runs as smooth as the Find X8 Pro — there is a pronounced impact on graphic execution .
Looking at last yr ’s twist , the graphical carrying out of the 7 - nub 8 Elite also does not fit the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 , or the Exynos 2400e . CPU performance is markedly improved , but the GPU performance depart a set to be desired .
In the Geekbench 6 test , the Snapdragon 8 Elite 7 - core reveals severe strangling in both processor and GPU performance , but this is just one run : does our next also reveal the same style ? This test is dissever into two parts : we tested the GPU in each twist on the Solar Bay test for performance but also ran the Solar Bay Stress Test to try out the battery aliveness under heavy performance needs .
Here the 7 - core Snapdragon 8 elect displays exchangeable trends to the C.P.U. testing , with a 20 % reduction in GPU operation . at last this mean the Find N5 wo n’t be as salutary for gaming — ask by the extremely thin profile — as the OnePlus 13 but this will only touch on gameplay on the best AAA games .
Overall graphical public presentation is still ameliorate over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 used in last year’sGalaxy S24 Ultra , but it ’s not as vast an melioration as the 8 - core variation .
Snapdragon 8 Elite 8-core vs 7-core: Battery
The other arena that a CPU will impact heavily is the battery life . optimisation in battery biography can intend the conflict between four hours and six hr of gameplay , and intensive gaming is a great way to try out the ability of each gadget to operate at sustained peak loads .
To do this , we use the Solar Bay Stress Test , which run a prospicient version of the Solar Bay test for twenty minutes . Its Congress of Racial Equality assumption is to showcase how a gimmick will do over extend periods of ray - delineate play , but it ’s also a good indicator of overall in writing performance .
Alongside the score produced , we also lumber the barrage fire drain to understand the overall impact of 20 minutes of resource - intensive gambling on your battery life . However , considering that each battery has different characteristics and capacities , I ’ve standardise the shelling drainpipe by estimate the capacity lost in mA - hour ( mAh ) .
In effect , a high-pitched battery drain in mAh means the earphone can sustain peak gaming functioning for a shorter meter .
One of the fundamental problem with the Snapdragon 8 Elite is the barrage fire drain under lengthy peak carrying into action , and the 7 - meat Snapdragon 8 Elite is design to offer similar performance while reducing the battery waste pipe .
appear at the results , there ’s a marked melioration in the battery life compare to the OnePlus 13 , but that ’s mainly revelatory of the Snapdragon 8 Elite 8 - essence variate requiring importantly power than previous years . The best showcase of this is the Galaxy S25 Ultra , which scores 25 % higher than the Galaxy S24 Ultra , but drains 30 % more bombardment in the same trial .
How much of a difference does 1 core make?
The 8 - core translation of the Snapdragon 8 Elite is a performance powerhouse , but it drains a lot of battery under extended loads and requires a declamatory vapor chamber for oestrus dissipation . For many of the good Android phones , fulfilling these requirements is n’t a problem , but there are plenty of devices where this is n’t feasible .
For them , the 7 - core variant exists , which removes a performance gist for the promise of estimable battery biography and heat direction . It ’s mean to enable phones to become even thinner , and will in all likelihood be the chipset inside the newGalaxy S25 Edge .
The trade wind - off is the 10 - 15 % drop in CPU performance which is forgivable , and the swelled drop in GPU performance which is unforgivable . The king requirements and succeeder of the 8 - core variant mean expectations are gamy for an inferior intersection with the same name , and it feels like this is closer to the Snapdragon 8s Elite than being a true flagship Snapdragon 8 elect processor .
trademark aside , it ’s still great for Clarence Day - to - day custom , but it miss that spare punch that makes a speech sound with the 8 - core Snapdragon 8 Elite processor so likeable . It rest to be seen if the assault and battery living is improved enough for this to be a worthwhile trade - off , but I ’ll breed this in more item in my forthcoming Find N5 feature .
