Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 vs ARM: Clock Speed or Efficiency? Upcoming Flagship Chip Tested at 5GHz

Qualcomm and ARM seem to have different visions for the future of smartphone processors. According to popular Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station, ARM is focused on boosting instructions per cycle (IPC) to deliver better efficiency at lower clock speeds. Meanwhile, Qualcomm is reportedly pushing its upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 to extreme frequencies — testing clock speeds near 5GHz, and even up to 5.3GHz in early validation versions.

While those sky-high speeds are still under testing and may not make it to the final product, the Elite 2 is still expected to surpass the current Snapdragon 8 Elite, which maxes out at 4.47GHz in the overclocked “for Galaxy” version — currently the highest for any mobile chip, beating even Apple’s M4 at 4.40GHz.

In contrast, MediaTek’s upcoming Dimensity 9500 reportedly clocks its prime “Travis” core at just 3.23GHz, lower than the 9400 and 9400+ at 3.62GHz and 3.73GHz respectively. Samsung’s new Exynos 2500, officially announced earlier this week, hits 3.3GHz, but attention is already shifting to the rumored Exynos 2600 for the Galaxy S26.

It’s important to remember that raw frequency isn’t everything. The Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 is said to pack second-gen Oryon cores, promising 25% better CPU performance, along with an Adreno 840 GPU featuring 16MB cache (up from 12MB), expected to deliver 30% more GPU performance.

Early leaked benchmarks show a single-core score of 4,000+ and multi-core around 11,000, up from the 8 Elite’s 3,100/9,800. As always, early figures should be treated with caution.

The wait won’t be long — Qualcomm has moved up its Snapdragon Summit to September 23–25, hinting that the official reveal is just around the corner.