The Snapdragon 8 Elite and Snapdragon 450 represent two different generations of Qualcomm mobile processors designed for flagship and budget smartphones respectively. This comparison covers CPU architecture, graphics capabilities, memory support, multimedia features, and connectivity technologies that directly influence gaming performance, camera quality, multitasking efficiency, AI processing, battery optimisation, and everyday smartphone usage. Snapdragon 8 Elite is built for demanding workloads such as on-device AI, 8K video recording, and console-level gaming, while Snapdragon 450 focuses on dependable performance for calling, messaging, web browsing, video streaming, and social media applications.
General
Snapdragon 8 Elite introduces Qualcomm's latest flagship mobile platform with a 3nm manufacturing process, integrated 5G connectivity, and advanced AI capabilities for premium smartphones. Snapdragon 450 is a budget-focused LTE processor built on a 14nm process, providing efficient power consumption for everyday activities such as messaging, online browsing, video playback, and navigation while maintaining long battery life in affordable smartphones.
| Specifications | Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 450 |
| Announced | 21 October 2024 | 27 June 2017 |
| Class | Flagship | Budget |
| Model number | SM8750 | SDM450 |
| Brand | Qualcomm | Qualcomm |
CPU
CPU architecture determines how efficiently a processor handles app launches, multitasking, gaming, AI workloads, and background processes. Snapdragon 8 Elite combines Qualcomm's custom Oryon CPU architecture with high clock speeds to accelerate demanding applications such as video editing, AI image generation, and high-refresh-rate gaming. Snapdragon 450 uses eight Cortex-A53 cores designed for smooth everyday tasks including WhatsApp messaging, YouTube streaming, email access, and web browsing with consistent battery efficiency.
| Specifications | Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 450 |
| Architecture | Qualcomm Oryon (ARMv9-A) | ARM Cortex-A53 |
| Cores | Octa-core (2× Prime + 6× Performance) | Octa-core |
| Frequency | Up to 4.32GHz | Up to 1.8GHz |
| Instruction set | ARMv9-A | ARMv8-A |
| Process | 3nm | 14nm |
| TDP (Sustained power limit) | 10 W | 5 W |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | Samsung |
Graphics
Graphics performance affects gaming quality, user interface responsiveness, camera processing, and high-resolution video playback. Snapdragon 8 Elite integrates Qualcomm's latest Adreno GPU with hardware ray tracing and advanced graphics technologies for console-quality games, 3D rendering, and AI-enhanced visual effects. Snapdragon 450 features the Adreno 506 GPU, which delivers stable performance for casual games such as Subway Surfers, Candy Crush, and Temple Run while supporting Full HD multimedia playback.
| Specifications | Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 450 |
| SoC | Qualcomm Adreno GPU | Adreno 506 |
| GPU name | Adreno | Adreno 506 |
| Architecture | Latest Adreno architecture | Adreno 500 series |
| GPU frequency | 1.0 GHz | 600 MHz |
| Execution units | 12 | 6 |
| Shading units | 512 | 96 |
| Total shaders | 512 | 96 |
| FLOPS | 2.2 TFLOPS | 0.2 TFLOPS |
| Vulkan version | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| OpenCL version | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| DirectX version | 12 | 12 |
Memory
Memory support influences multitasking speed, application responsiveness, loading times, and overall smartphone performance. Snapdragon 8 Elite supports high-speed LPDDR5X memory with significantly greater bandwidth for running multiple demanding applications, editing large photos, recording 8K videos, and processing AI workloads simultaneously. Snapdragon 450 supports LPDDR3 memory, offering sufficient performance for everyday tasks such as switching between messaging applications, browsing websites, streaming music, and using navigation apps.
| Specifications | Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 450 |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR3 |
| Memory frequency | 5300MHz (10667Mbps) | 933MHz (1866Mbps) |
| Bus | 64-bit | 32-bit |
| Max bandwidth | 68GB/s | 14.9GB/s |
| Max size | 24GB | 8GB |
Multimedia (ISP)
The multimedia engine determines camera quality, display capabilities, storage performance, and video recording features available on smartphones. Snapdragon 8 Elite supports premium camera systems, 8K HDR video recording, high-refresh-rate displays, and UFS 4.0 storage for professional photography and content creation. Snapdragon 450 supports Full HD displays, 21MP cameras, eMMC 5.1 storage, and Full HD video recording, making it suitable for everyday photography, video calls, and media consumption.
| Specifications | Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 450 |
| Storage type | UFS 4.0 | eMMC 5.1 |
| Max display resolution | 4K @ 240Hz | Full HD+ @ 60Hz |
| Max camera resolution | 320MP | 21MP |
| Video capture | 8K @ 30fps | 1080p @ 30fps |
| Video playback | 8K @ 60fps | 1080p @ 60fps |
| Video codecs | H.265, VP9, AV1 | H.264, VP8 |
| Audio codecs | Qualcomm Aqstic, Snapdragon Sound | Qualcomm Aqstic |
Connectivity and Network
Connectivity technologies determine download speeds, wireless networking performance, navigation accuracy, and communication reliability. Snapdragon 8 Elite integrates the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and multi-band satellite positioning for ultra-fast downloads, cloud gaming, 8K streaming, and low-latency online gaming. Snapdragon 450 uses the Snapdragon X9 LTE modem with Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.1, providing reliable connectivity for voice calls, video streaming, web browsing, GPS navigation, and everyday internet usage.
| Specifications | Snapdragon 8 Elite | Snapdragon 450 |
| Modern | Snapdragon X80 5G | Snapdragon X9 LTE |
| 4G support | Yes | Yes |
| 5G support | Yes | No |
| Download speed | 10 Gbps | 300 Mbps |
| Upload speed | 3.5 Gbps | 150 Mbps |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 | Wi-Fi 5 |
| Bluetooth | 6.0 | 4.1 |
| Navigation | GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, NavIC, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou |