Qualcomm announced two new flagship mobile chips at Snapdragon Summit 2026 on September 22 in Maui. Both the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 are built on a 2nm process. They are two distinct SKUs with their own part numbers.
The standard chip carries the part number SM8950. The higher tier is SM8975, with extra camera and graphics capability. Qualcomm frames the split as a way to give phone makers two flagship options instead of one.
“Today marks a milestone as we introduce not one, but two new flagship mobile platforms, delivering agentic AI experiences that are immediate, personal, and adaptive. As the agentic AI age evolves, our multi-flagship strategy allows us to push the boundaries of what’s possible for mobile while bringing our latest AI innovations to a broader range of premium devices. By designing two innovative platforms, we’re giving OEMs greater choice as we collectively shape the capabilities of the next generation of intelligent, personalized, mobile experiences.”
— Chris Patrick, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Handsets, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6: the gains Qualcomm claims
All of the figures below are Qualcomm’s own, measured against the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. For the standard Gen 6, Qualcomm says the CPU is 10% faster and 37% more power efficient. The Adreno GPU is rated at 35% more performance with a 40% efficiency gain. The Hexagon NPU gets a smaller bump: 14% more performance and 20% better performance per watt.
What the Extreme adds
The Extreme Gen 6 raises the performance figures while matching the standard chip on efficiency. Qualcomm claims a 13% CPU performance gain alongside the same 37% efficiency improvement. Its Adreno GPU adds new matrix cores, branded Adreno Neural Fusion, for a claimed 44% performance increase and the same 40% efficiency gain. The NPU claims are 35% more performance and 33% better AI performance per watt, well ahead of the standard chip’s 14% and 20%.
Qualcomm’s own product brief notes that real-world results vary by how each manufacturer implements the chip. Treat these as vendor figures until independent testing on shipping phones lands.
Availability: the brands Qualcomm says are on board
Qualcomm’s announcement says devices on both platforms will debut in flagship smartphones from leading global brands. The brands it lists are HONOR, iQOO, Motorola, OnePlus, OPPO, REDMI, RedMagic, vivo and Xiaomi. That sentence is worded as a partial list, and it names brands rather than specific models.
Specifications
Both chips share the same CPU, cache and connectivity block. The Extreme adds the extra hardware listed below.
Shared by both platforms:
- Process: 2nm
- CPU: custom Qualcomm Oryon, 2 Prime cores up to 5.0 GHz and 6 Performance cores up to 4.0 GHz, 64-bit
- Cache: 16 MB Qualcomm Oryon Flex Cache
- Connectivity: FastConnect 8800 with AI-enhanced 4×4 Wi-Fi, up to 11.6 Gbps Wi-Fi and 14.8 Gbps 5G downlink
Added on the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6:
- GPU memory: 18MB Adreno High-Performance Memory
- Graphics: Adreno Neural Fusion matrix cores
- Video capture: 8K60, plus APV codec support
- Decode: H.266 hardware decode is listed on the Extreme product brief
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 also came up in a report on Samsung’s own internal Exynos 2700 benchmark, which named the chip directly. Qualcomm’s own figures are now on the record for that comparison.
Sources: Qualcomm press release, Qualcomm product page, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 product brief, Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 product brief
