Qualcomm has officially revealed details about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, a processor designed for high-end smartphones and tablets. We initially heard about this in September, and they have only now fleshed out the facts. After last year’s Elite model deviated from the customary “Gen” naming convention, the new chip returns to what consumers are accustomed to.

This custom SoC (System on Chip), which is based on Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU cores, is expected to outperform the previous one in terms of handling the things you use most frequently on your phone. It promises better multitasking, sharper graphics, and on-device AI that really makes sense, all without draining your battery completely. Devices powered by this technology should be available shortly, and OnePlus has already given us a sneak glimpse at a new phone that uses it.

Qualcomm engineered the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 to handle demanding applications. The CPU configuration improves performance by up to 36% over the two-year-old Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. When combined with a 42% improvement in power consumption, you should be able to read through your feeds, switch between games and email, and edit those cat pics with a lot less sweat and, in fact, less battery life. Everyday chores like loading web pages have improved by 76% compared to the mid-range Snapdragon 7 series, which should keep the annoyance at bay, especially during those extended sessions.

Now, for all the gamers out there, the Adreno GPU has received a nice little boost. It can now increase frame rates by 11% compared to Gen 3, while improving efficiency by 28%. That means that older games that used to stutter should now glide smoothly through levels without overheating your smartphone. It also supports QHD+ screens at 240Hz refresh rates, so whether you’re racing or watching your favorite shows, your visuals will remain smooth.

In terms of AI performance, the Hexagon NPU has improved by 46% over the prior model. That means your AI assistant may truly track your behaviors and respond in real time, recommending routes based on your calendar or even adjusting your settings before you ask it to. And all of this happens directly on the phone; there’s no need to submit your data to a cloud server for processing. By the way, the Sensing Hub is like having a personal assistant on your phone, combining all of the microphone and sensor data so that your phone knows when you’re going to speak up and can take immediate action.

Connectivity has not been forgotten, with the Snapdragon X80 5G modem capable of downloading up to 10 gigabits per second and uploading up to 3.5 gigabits per second, which is more than adequate for 8K streaming or sharing large files on the fly. It also includes Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 via the FastConnect 7900 system, ensuring a steady connection even in crowded networks. Finally, photography enthusiasts will be pleased to learn that the Spectra ISP can support three 48-megapixel sensors or a single 320-megapixel beast, as well as 4K video at 120 frames per second – all of the features of a professional-level camera without the size.

Qualcomm is marketing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 as a more practical choice, retaining some of the Elite’s high-end features while reducing the top speed to a still acceptable 3.8GHz from the 4.6GHz seen in the higher-end variant. This allows phone makers to keep costs down while yet producing good performance that outperforms the Gen 3 in almost every category. Overall, this should translate to about 13% greater power efficiency, which means phones will last a little longer on a single charge, even if you use them a lot. They also support memory up to LPDDR5x-4800 and UFS 4.1 storage, which means apps will load faster and files will transfer faster.