The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is one of the most popular Android chipsets around, but it could pale in comparison to the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
Qualcomm has already confirmed that it’ll share the same impressive Oryon CPU architecture used by its laptop-class Snapdragon X Elite chipset and claims that it’ll deliver “astonishing levels of performance”. Leaked benchmark results seemingly back up these claims with scores that could potentially better the A18 Pro-equipped iPhone 16 Pro – and that has never happened before.
So, safe to say that the new chipset powering a range of 2025 flagships is an exciting one, and here’s everything there is to know about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 right now, from announcement speculation to the latest details about the chipset, both official and unofficial.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 4: At a glance
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 to be revealed at Snapdragon Summit
- Based on the Oryon CPU architecture of the Snapdragon X Elite
- Huge year-on-year boost to performance according to leaked benchmarks
- Will likely appear on Xiaomi 15 and OnePlus 13 first
Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 release date rumors
Qualcomm has already confirmed that we’ll be seeing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 at this year’s Snapdragon Summit. It’s the company’s annual event where it reveals the latest chipsets across phones, tablets, wearables and even laptops with the reveal of the Snapdragon X Elite at last year’s event.
That said, Qualcomm is yet to announce when this year’s Snapdragon Summit will take place. Last year’s event kicked off on 24 October, so it’s likely that Qualcomm will stick with October this year, but the dates are still to be determined.
Don’t assume you’ll see Snapdragon 8 Gen 4-equipped phones in October, however – unless you’re in China, that is. The OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15 are both rumored to make their Chinese debut pretty soon after the reveal of the new chipset, as with the 8 Gen 3 last year, but the global debuts will likely be sometime in early 2025.
The latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 rumors and leaks
Qualcomm has confirmed that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will boast a “supercharged” Oryon CPU, which made its debut on the laptop-focused Snapdragon X Elite chipset at last year’s Snapdragon Summit.
It has also teased that it’ll have an improved NPU for boosted AI capabilities and deliver “astonishing levels of performance”.
That official information has been accompanied by a bevvy of leaked specs that seem to back up Qualcomm’s lofty claims. The more conservative leaks paint a picture of a SoC that’s clocked at up to 4.0GHz, already a big boost on the 3.3GHz of the 8 Gen 3, but a separate leak suggests it could go even further, all the way to 4.3GHz.
It looks like there could be something to those leaked specs too, with (what’s assumed to be) the OnePlus 13 appearing on Geekbench 6, complete with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 – and the scores are pretty remarkable.
In fact, if the single-core score of 3216 and multi-core score of 10,051 are true, that’d put the Snapdragon chipset ahead of Apple’s A18 Pro chipset, with our early internal benchmarking of the iPhone 16 Pro delivering scores of 3407 and 8419 respectively. Considering Apple has been a long-time leader in the chipset space, this is a very big deal indeed.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that the results have been fudged in some way, but it does align with the rumored chipset’s clock speeds, so there could be something here.
Which smartphones will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4?
While it’s still early days for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, having not yet been officially revealed by Qualcomm, that hasn’t stopped companies from teasing upcoming releases that’ll feature the chipset.
OnePlus’ China President, Louis Lee, was particularly vocal about it on Weibo earlier in September, claiming that the company’s next flagship – almost certainly the OnePlus 13 – will be “released next month”, aka October, explaining that the “latest generation” of chipset from Qualcomm within the phone will deliver an “epoch-making” performance.
Xiaomi might not have confirmed anything just yet, but rumors suggest the upcoming Xiaomi 15 could be revealed in October, aligning with the reveal of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 as it did with last year’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the subsequent release of the Xiaomi 14.
As noted earlier, these will almost certainly be China-only releases with global rollouts to follow soon after, so you might have to wait a little longer to experience the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
Elsewhere, we expect many upcoming 2025 flagships to sport the new chipset, especially those utilising the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 on current-gen devices, with a brief list including the likes of:
- Samsung Galaxy S25
- Honor Magic 7 Pro
- Sony Xperia 1 VII
- Xiaomi 15
- OnePlus 13
- OnePlus Open 2
- Oppo Find X8 Pro
- Motorola Edge 60 Ultra
- Motorola Razr 60 Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
- Honor Magic V4
Trusted Take: Our thoughts on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 rumors
This could be the biggest year for Qualcomm’s mobile-focused Snapdragon chipset in years, with both teasers from Qualcomm and leaked benchmarks pointing towards a significant year-on-year improvement in the performance department, so much so that it could actually outpace Apple’s top-end iPhone chipset for the first time.
This could allow for even more meaningful AI experiences on 2025 Android flagships as well as the boost to productivity and gaming from the rumored chipset. It’s certainly an exciting release, and I can’t wait to see what Qualcomm has to offer at this year’s Snapdragon Summit.
