Technologies

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Chip Will Boost AI in 2026’s Most Powerful Phones

The next mobile chip boosts efficiency, performance and AI neural processing.

At Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit off the west coast of Maui, the company unveiled the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, its next-generation chip intended for next year’s top-tier Android phones.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 succeeds last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, which saw the mobile debut of Qualcomm’s in-house Oryon central processing unit for more power and efficiency over older silicon from Arm. As expected, this year’s 8 Elite Gen 5 improves performance over its predecessor. The upgrades include faster processing for AI agents, which can take in data from cameras and microphones to make informed suggestions to phone owners.

«[Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5] enables personalized AI agents to see what you see, hear what you hear and think with you in real time,» said Chris Patrick, senior vice president and general manager of mobile handset at Qualcomm in a press release.

Qualcomm announced that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will feature in premium phones from Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo, Vivo and more brands. The first devices will be announced in the coming days, Qualcomm said.

Compared to last year’s mobile chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 CPU has 20% better performance and up to 35% improved power efficiency, while the graphics processing unit has 23% better performance and reduces power consumption by 20%, meaning longer gaming sessions while playing on phones.

For AI, the chip’s neural processing unit is 37% faster, and it can handle AI inquiries at 220 tokens per second — an improvement over its predecessor’s 70 tokens per second, or the Snapdragon X Elite PC chip’s 30 tokens per second. It gathers personal information to empower AI agents — the next generation of AI assistants — to make recommendations and suggestions suited to your behavior and tastes.

Phones coming out with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 will be the first mobile devices to use a new video codec, Advanced Professional Video, that enables taking near lossless-quality footage as well as more granular controls in post-production for precise color grading, Qualcomm says. The chip has a fully computational video pipeline, meaning phones can extract single frames from videos with the same visual quality as still images.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 uses Qualcomm’s X85 modem along with the company’s FastConnect 7900 connectivity chip, with Wi-Fi 7 and AI that leads to up to 40% power savings as well as optimizing Wi-Fi for 50% lower latency for gaming.

At the end of the Snapdragon Summit’s product keynote, Qualcomm group general manager Alex Katouzian introduced another chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. Though he didn’t share many details, this chip will be for slightly less premium phones (though still more capable than the Snapdragon 7 line of silicon) and take the place of the «S» sub-series of chips, like the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 released last year.

Technologies

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 Might Come in 5G and 4G Cellular Models

If the rumor proves true, the 5G Galaxy Watch Ultra would rival the 5G-enabled $799 Apple Watch Ultra 3 that debuted last fall.

Samsung’s next high-end Galaxy Watch could support faster 5G speeds, but if this leak is true, it will depend on where you live. The rumored Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 might come in 5G and 4G cellular models, with availability for each smartwatch depending on the country.

According to the Dutch website Galaxy Club (and spotted by SamMobile), Samsung’s servers may have revealed a series of model numbers that point to 5G, 4G and Wi-Fi-enabled editions of the next Galaxy Watch Ultra, which would succeed the original model that debuted in 2024.

A representative for Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Galaxy Club website speculates that the 5G edition would be sold in the US and Korean markets, while the 4G edition would sell in the rest of the world. In the US, a 5G version of the Galaxy Watch Ultra would rival the 5G-enabled $799 Apple Watch Ultra 3, which debuted last fall. The 4G edition would have broader compatibility worldwide, since the earlier network is far more established.

It will likely be a few months until we hear anything official about the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. Samsung typically unveils its new watches in the summer alongside its Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip foldable phones. Last year, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Watch 8 and the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, but otherwise left the prior 2024 Ultra in the lineup for those looking for a larger 47mm smartwatch.

Technologies

2 Cases Show Supreme Court Isn’t Holding ISPs Responsible for Piracy

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 8, #1032

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for April 8, No. 1032.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The purple category is a fun one, once you see the connection. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: In the group.

Green group hint: Appearance details.

Blue group hint: Often found in gyms.

Purple group hint: They help you see.