While we were all waiting for the Snapdragon Gen 4 chipset, Qualcomm launched 8 Elite instead. But worry not, it’s what we wanted. It’s only the next-gen flagship chipset from Qualcomm but with a different name. It’s not the first time Qualcomm has done this. If you’ve been following Qualcomm chipsets, you would know that initially, their processors adapted a numbered naming scheme. However, that changed when the 8 Gen 1 chipset was introduced, a successor to Snapdragon 888. And now, again we witnessed the change in the naming scheme. In this article, we will discuss the naming scheme of Snapdragon and how Qualcomm’s processors are ranked.

Table of contents:

• Why did Qualcomm shift to Elite instead of 8 Gen 4
• Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset naming scheme explained
• Latest Qualcomm chipsets to know about (2024)

Why did Qualcomm change Snapdragon 888 to 8 Gen 1 and then to Elite

In 2021, when Qualcomm launched the 8 Gen 1 chipset, the successor of Snapdragon 888 and 888+, the company took a different path from its regular naming scheme. This approach confused users as the numbers used in old names appeared straightforward and easy to remember. However, the chip manufacturer had its own reasons.

Switching from Snapdragon 888 to 8 Gen 1

As per Don McGuire, senior vice president, and chief marketing officer of Qualcomm, they had to pivot from their regular naming scheme because there were not enough numbers left to name an 800 series chipset. After 899, they had to enter the 900 series. To avoid that from happening, Qualcomm decided to change the name and use generation for naming their chipsets. Hence, in 2021 we got Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.

This change applies not only to the 800 series chipsets, but to all the other processors including 700, 600, and 400 and they became Gen 7, Gen 6, and Gen 4 respectively. Fast forward to 2024, Qualcomm again surprised its audience when they launched the latest flagship chipset – Snapdragon 8 Elite.

Why did Qualcomm change the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to 8 Elite

This time, the reason was to align their flagship smartphone processors to their new powerful laptop processors, Snapdragon X Elite. “Elite” represents the chip’s status as Qualcomm’s most capable mobile chip and a showcase of the company’s industry-leading progress. Thus, the latest chipset of the 800 series is called Snapdragon 8 Elite instead of 8 Gen 4.

How Qualcomm names its chipsets (Snapdragon naming scheme explained)

Now, coming to how the chip manufacturer decides the name of their chipsets. Snapdragon processors in the “Gen” nomenclature are divided into four different categories – Entry level, mid-range, premium mid-range, and flagship.

• Snapdragon 8 Gen series – Flagship
• Snapdragon 7 Gen series – Premium mid-range
• Snapdragon 6 Gen series – Mid-range
• Snapdragon 4 Gen series – Entry-level

These four categories have been further subdivided into 3 sub-categories based on their performance. For example, the 7 Gen series has 7s Gen 2, 7 Gen 2, and 7+ Gen 2. To understand the differences they carry, let’s just name them using X instead of 7. So, we have Xs Gen, X Gen, and X+ Gen.

Xs Gen (a Lite version)

Xs Gen represents a “Lite” version or a toned-down version of the original X Gen chipset. In order to make their flagship chipset accessible to a wide range of audiences, Qualcomm has decided to manufacture a toned-down version of their regular chipsets by underclocking the CPU and GPU. So, if you see a Qualcomm SoC such as Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 or 8s Gen 2, you must remember that it’s an underclocked version of the original processor.

X Gen (the original chipset)

The standard or un-modded version of the chipset is represented by just a number of the series, they don’t include ‘s’ or ‘+’ in their name. These chipsets haven’t been transformed in any way, you get the original version. For example, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 7 Gen 1, and 6 Gen 1 and so on.

X+ (the version with performance boost)

If you are a gamer, a video editor, or perform multi-task on your device, then there’s an overclocked version of the chipset for you Qualcomm has in its offering. With the Plus variants, you get a slight performance boost. The X+ variants are those that have been overlocked to achieve a better performance than the original version. For example, the overclocked version of Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 is 7+ Gen 1. And it goes like this for other chipsets as well.

Here’s an idea of how much performance boost you get from the overclocked version. Take the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and 8+ Gen 1 for example. The 8 Gen 1 scores an Antutu score of 950289, while 8+ Gen 1 gets 1020140. Talking about the Geekbench scores, the 8 Gen 1 received a Single-Core score of 1196 and 3655 in Multi-Core, whereas, the overclocked variant scored 1334 and 3877 in Single and Multi-core tests respectively.

I hope that this explanation has cleared your mind about how Snapdragon chipsets are classified. If so, then you’ll now be able to comprehend which smartphone is better or worse on the basis of performance. To make it easier for you, the section below lists all the latest Snapdragon chipsets from entry-level to flagship.

Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets from entry-level to flagship (2024)

Snapdragon 8 series processors

If you are an ultimate gamer, a full-time video editor, or a person who does multi-tasking all day long, then you should go for a smartphone featuring one of Qualcomm’s flagship chipsets. All the chipsets in the 8 series are flagship. Here’s the list of all processors from oldest to the latest.

• Snapdragon 8  Elite (Gen 4)
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
• Snapdragon 8s Gen 3
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 1

Snapdragon 7 series processors

A person who still wants flagship-grade perfomance but is low on budget can opt for Snapdragon 7 Gen series. Some of these chipsets deliver performance even better than the flagship-level SoCs. For example, the 7+ Gen 2 on Poco F5 has proved to be better than the 8 Gen 1 processor. Here are all the processors in the 7 series.

• Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3
• Snapdragon 7 Gen 3
• Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2
• Snapdragon 7s Gen 2
• Snapdragon 7 Gen 1

Snapdragon 6 series processors

Snapdragon 6 series has processors that are used in mid-range smartphones. Currently, there’s only one chipset in this series.

• Snapdragon 6 Gen 1

Snapdragon 4 series processors

For budget smartphones, Qualcomm has 4 series of chipsets that offer entry-level performance. Still, all these chipsets come with the latest 5G connectivity. So, if you want a smartphone with minimalistic features, you can go for those with 4 Gen Snapdragon processors. Currently, there are only two processors in this series:

• Snapdragon 4 Gen 1
• Snapdragon 4 Gen 2

That’s all folks! That was pretty much everything you need to know about Snapdragon mobile processors in order to make the right choice while choosing your desired smartphone.