Key points
- Qualcomm launches its first 2nm smartphone chips
- The top chip runs large AI models on the device
- An always-on sensing hub adds personal context
Qualcomm (QCOM) launched its first 2nm smartphone chips on Tuesday, promising to run larger AI models directly on the phone. The company unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and the higher-tier Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 at its Snapdragon Summit in Maui, both built on TSMC's (TSM) 2nm process.
Qualcomm says the Extreme can run an AI model with more than 30 billion parameters without sending the task to the cloud. The AI model uses a Mixture-of-Experts design, which activates only part of its network for each token to reduce the computation required, as Hugging Face explains.
Both chips also include an upgraded Sensing Hub with two dedicated AI cores. Qualcomm says it runs continuously at low power and supports models with up to 200 million parameters. Features include speaker recognition and "Personal Scribe," which collects information users choose to share to give the phone's AI more personal context. Qualcomm claims an 85% performance gain and 20% better efficiency for the hub over the previous generation.
What is inside the chips
Both use Qualcomm's Oryon CPU, with two prime cores at 5GHz and six performance cores at 4GHz, paired with 16MB of a new Oryon Flex Cache. Qualcomm claims a 10% CPU performance gain and 37% better power efficiency for the 8 Elite Gen 6 over Gen 5. It puts the Extreme's CPU performance gain at 13%.
The Adreno GPU is rearchitected. Qualcomm claims GPU performance gains of 35% for the standard chip and 44% for the Extreme over Gen 5, and cites a 40% improvement in power efficiency for the standard chip. The Extreme adds dedicated matrix cores for AI. The Hexagon NPU gains a new Element Accelerator aimed at the transformer models behind generative AI. Qualcomm says the Extreme's 50% larger shared memory helps support the 30-billion-parameter model, alongside a 35% gain in NPU performance and 33% better AI performance per watt.
| Qualcomm-claimed gains versus Gen 5 | 8 Elite Gen 6 | 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU performance | +10% | +13% |
| GPU performance | +35% | +44% |
| NPU performance | +14% | +35% |
On the imaging side, the Extreme supports 8K recording at 60 frames per second and 4K slow motion at 240 frames per second. Its Spectra image processor includes a feature Qualcomm calls Intelligent Pixel Control. Both chips add AI-based voice isolation and noise reduction, and pair with Qualcomm's X105 5G modem and Wi-Fi 8.
The handset launch comes as Qualcomm also pursues AI business outside smartphones, including its recently disclosed custom-chip arrangement with Amazon. On the handset side, Motorola's Signature 27 is among the first phones announced with the Extreme Gen 6, and Qualcomm says devices from OnePlus, iQOO, Xiaomi, and Honor will follow in the coming weeks. Qualcomm is selling both parts as flagships, a split it says gives device makers more choice.
