Oh, another Snapdragon 8 Elite handset overheats

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite guarantees massive issues for the high-end smartphones of 2024 and 2025. From a brand new customized CPU to unmatched graphics efficiency, improved pictures and AI capabilities, it is the chip that claims to do all of it and, for probably the most half, it does. Nevertheless, our preliminary impressions of the chip have been tarnished by extraordinarily excessive temperatures when positioned below stress.

First, the realme GT7 Professional overheated throughout benchmark exams. Even after a patch to deal with a “software program compatibility situation” with 3DMark, the handset nonetheless reaches an inside temperature of 47.7°C, making for a telephone that is uncomfortable to carry when working at a tilt full. Then, the awesomely performing ASUS ROG Cellphone 9 stayed cool in its default efficiency mode, however noticed a big efficiency throttling to maintain these temperatures at a cold 34.9°C. Left free in ‘X-Mode’, the telephone recorded a scorching 55.8°C (actually as scorching as final yr’s mannequin), although its robust cool resolution stored efficiency constant. There is a cause ASUS recommends a cooler accent for longer gaming periods.

Lately, I’ve been testing the brand new HONOR Magic 7 Professional. Whereas working the telephone by 3DMark’s benchmark check, the telephone stalled once more, this time on the demanding Photo voltaic Bay ray tracing check, shutting down the app because of overheating. See the warning window under.

Though Photo voltaic Bay didn’t full regardless of eight separate makes an attempt, I efficiently ran two of 3DMark’s Wild Life stress exams (one thing we could not initially obtain with realme). As earlier than, the temperatures are alarming; Wild Life reached 47.8°C whereas Wild Life Excessive peaked at 50.1°C, full with a discount to only 46.8% of its preliminary efficiency within the case of the latter. For sure, the telephone was uncomfortably heat by the top of the runs and took a very long time to chill down.

I have been working these stress exams for a number of generations now, and digging into previous information factors for HONOR’s handsets reveals a transparent enhance in temperatures lately, with a noticeable bounce once we transfer to the Snapdragon 8 Elite. See the chart under, however be aware that we won’t get temperature information for a telephone that does not full the check.

Whereas there are, in fact, variations in design, PCB structure and cooling configurations between handset generations, a temperature rise of between 5-8°C in only a few years will rely on the chip, at the very least partly. As well as, processors have benefited from apparently extra environment friendly manufacturing nodes lately, which ought to have allowed the chips to eat much less energy and, due to this fact, run cooler. As a substitute, Qualcomm has put these financial savings in the direction of extra efficiency, with greater temperatures arising as a big facet impact.

This isn’t to single out HONOR; all of the Snapdragon 8 Elite handsets we have seen thus far run hotter (at full tilt) and/or sacrifice extra efficiency in an effort to remain cool than their predecessors. The brand new OnePlus 13 additionally has peak temperatures of 45.8°C in stress exams, up from a a lot cooler 39.3°C on the OnePlus 12. It is only a query of how far more warmth in comparison with final yr. So what does this imply for the chip and the handsets powered by it? Is it a silly factor to keep away from?

First, there is a distinction between these pretty excessive stress check eventualities and the temperatures you will see in real-world eventualities. I’ve spent a while enjoying actual video games on Snapdragon 8 Elite telephones and have not seen the telephones’ floor temperatures to be as scorching as the interior numbers recorded right here. These stress exams push the telephones above and past the commonest functions that do not require the chip to run at full tilt, so take into account them the worst rating for temperatures and the very best rating for efficiency potential.

Nevertheless, this doesn’t recommend that this isn’t a trigger for concern. A warmer chip means the telephone’s internals are more likely to warmth up considerably for those who use the telephone whereas charging, and there is an elevated danger of stuttering efficiency and shutting apps when utilizing the telephone in a heat setting, similar to EG automotive dashboard navigation. Then, there are future functions to contemplate. A telephone constructed to final 5 to seven years must take care of apps and video games that would find yourself stressing the telephone’s efficiency capabilities, doubtlessly leading to greater temperatures than we see in as we speak’s apps. Stress exams symbolize excessive use instances by as we speak’s requirements, however they could be extra widespread 4 or 5 years from now.

Maybe worse for the Snapdragon 8 Elite is that there’s a competing product in the marketplace that provides comparable efficiency with out the excessive temperatures — MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400. We benchmarked the chip and located most stress check temperatures a cool 3°C to 11°C at their peak, relying on the handsets you examine. See Discover X8 Professional and vivo X200 Professional within the chart under. Be aware that vivo’s cooling resolution is inferior to OPPO’s and the efficiency is additional diminished to maintain temperatures cool. Moreover, the Dimensity 9400 runs video games just about in addition to the 8 Elite, which makes you surprise precisely what is going on on inside Qualcomm’s newest flagship.

I do not wish to speculate an excessive amount of concerning the supply of the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s issues, however there are some potential ache factors to look out for with its all-new parts. Though Qualcomm says they’re early growth, the Pheonix-L and -M customized processor cores share their underpinnings with the Oryon cores within the laptop-grade Snapdragon X platform. Perhaps there are some points with the primary era structure to maintain these cores contemporary or particular software program optimizations that are not all the time adopted, particularly since they will attain a colossal 4.32GHz. Qualcomm has additionally beefed up its Adreno GPU with a brand new three-part structure — a higher-performance design that would, in principle, make its manner into laptops. As soon as once more, a brand new structure might not work as ideally as the corporate hoped in a restricted kind issue or might require additional optimization by companions to stability appropriately.

Additional investigation is required to see precisely what TDP these parts pull, however primarily based on the warmth output, I might guess it is fairly excessive when working at full tilt. In any case, Qualcomm is clearly pushing the efficiency envelope with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, however it comes on the expense of upper temperatures which might be inflicting some handsets to fail exams that have not bothered earlier fashions. On the similar time, attaining these high-end ends in precise apps is not essentially possible – you do not really want an Elite 8 to run, for instance, the preferred Android video games.

On the plus facet, the Snapdragon 8 Elite appears to supply robust efficiency with out extra battery drain and, in lots of instances, is definitely a extra fuel-efficient chip than its predecessor. Temperature is just a part of the story, however they’re positively one thing to contemplate when focusing on a next-gen buy. Working at full tilt, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is unquestionably a scorching chip.