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Qualcomm has not one however two top-tier chipsets to choose from for 2026 flagship Android handsets. First, we had the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which packs the corporate’s strongest CPU, GPU, and AI parts right into a cutting-edge manufacturing course of. It’s the very best of the very best, however it doesn’t come low cost.

In the event you don’t need to spend a small fortune in your subsequent flagship, Qualcomm has now introduced the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 to tempt you with. It boasts lots of the identical options and capabilities, however with a efficiency level that’s simply barely behind final 12 months’s Elite chip. It’s nonetheless quick, simply not the very quickest.

The Elite Gen 5 clearly catches my eye as a efficiency fanatic, however in the identical means I marvel at an NVIDIA RTX 5090, I’m not ready to remortgage my home to personal one. Sure, sure, I do know these next-gen flagships are going to be nice for pictures, AI, and different bits too, however in terms of spending my very own cash or making suggestions to family and friends, even $999 is pushing the boundaries of most individuals’s budgets.

So as an alternative, I’m way more excited to see what manufacturers can provide you with based mostly on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. We may be due for some new flagship-killing mid-range fashions or extra aggressively priced “Extremely” fashions.

A few handsets are already confirmed to be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. The OnePlus 15R is about to reach earlier than the tip of the 12 months. If it’s something like its relatively spiffy predecessor (the OnePlus 13R), we’re hopefully a package deal with sturdy battery life, versatile digital camera, snappy charging, and loads of efficiency for someplace round $599. That looks as if it’ll be an awesome deal.

The opposite potential upside is that the 8 Gen 5 may not be fairly as sizzling and maybe even extra battery-efficient. Based mostly on our testing of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, it’s extraordinarily quick, however it may possibly’t maintain its peak capabilities for very lengthy with out specialised cooling setups which are unlikely to slot in mainstream handsets. Our early stress assessments of the flagship OnePlus 15 brought about it to close down, however hopefully that gained’t be an issue for the 15R and the 8 Gen 5 (although we’ll you should definitely check it!).

However the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 doesn’t should be reserved for mid-range handsets. The even higher-end Motorola Edge 70 Extremely can be rumored to function the non-Elite chip. Its predecessor value round $1,000, which isn’t fairly top-tier cash, however it’s not far off.

Motorola’s last-gen mannequin (launched two years in the past) sports activities a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, so utilizing the silver-medal 8 Gen 5 for the brand new mannequin is on type. Nonetheless, this cost-saving measure will hopefully enable Motorola to incorporate a pointy OLED show, a periscope digital camera, and a well-known high-end design for lower than different Extremely flagships available on the market. Greater than adequate high-end efficiency, high-end options, and a barely lower cost than its rivals seem to be a very good compromise.

Now, I’m not saying both of those handsets would be the must-buy telephone of the subsequent six months, however someplace between the inexpensive OnePlus 15T and the almost-top-tier Edge 70 Extremely, there’s in all probability my preferrred gadget.

Prime-tier flagships are clearly spectacular, however we’ve lengthy handed the purpose of diminishing returns for efficiency and value. The hand-held type issue can’t totally leverage Qualcomm’s newest Elite silicon with out ultra-robust cooling, and out of doors of high-end emulation, there aren’t many apps that may faucet into that peak energy anyway.

Because it seems, loads of customers are completely happy to bypass the completely quickest chip round. Living proof, Google’s Pixel collection: they’re beloved for his or her software program and distinctive options regardless of benchmarking nicely behind Qualcomm’s greatest. Nonetheless, the Pixel collection is now not alone within the subject of nice handsets that don’t high the benchmarks.

The broader trade shift to dual-chip methods has landed loads of current different winners. Samsung’s Galaxy S24 FE and Z Flip FE carry out completely nicely with “slower” Exynos {hardware} and are stable all-around buys. Apple has spent years differentiating its iPhone and iPhone Plus fashions from its Professionals with barely cut-down processors to maintain costs in examine. Efficiency nonetheless issues, however it’s more and more not the highest precedence for many consumers.

Qualcomm has supported this center area earlier than with its 600- and 700-series chips and, extra lately, the 8s line. However the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 feels completely different. For the primary time, the non-Elite choice consists of Qualcomm’s customized Oryon CPU, a trimmed-down model of its flagship sliced-GPU structure, top-tier picture processing, final 12 months’s high-end AI engine, and all of the networking extras you’d anticipate, from Wi-Fi 7 to Satellite tv for pc NTN.

On paper, that’s a top-tier setup that appears nearly as good as — if not higher than — the cut-down flagship chipsets we’ve seen on this value section till now.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 isn’t thrilling as a result of it nips on the heels of the Elite — it’s thrilling as a result of it reveals the place the true battle for 2026 smartphones might be fought. If it may possibly run cooler, draw much less energy, and assist push the value of genuinely nice telephones decrease, that’s a much more significant improve than paying sky-high costs simply to sit down atop benchmark charts.