Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 Brings Back Cortex-A78 Cores

Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 (SM6850) on May 7, 2026, alongside the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5. The new chip gets higher clock speeds, Wi-Fi 7, and Bluetooth 6.0, but at the same time moves back from Cortex-A720/A520 cores to the much older Cortex-A78/A55 combination. For a new Snapdragon generation, that is an unusual step backward.

What's Inside

The chip is manufactured on TSMC's 4 nm process. The CPU has eight cores in a 4+4 configuration: four performance cores clocked at up to 2.6 GHz and four efficiency cores at up to 2.0 GHz. Qualcomm simply calls them Kryo cores, but Geekbench identifiers point to Cortex-A78 and Cortex-A55.

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 uses a noticeably newer CPU architecture. It has a 1+3+4 configuration based on Cortex-A720 and Cortex-A520 cores and supports ARMv9, while the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 goes back to ARMv8.2.

Graphics are handled by the Adreno 812. Qualcomm claims up to a 21% increase in GPU performance compared with the previous generation. LPDDR5 memory runs at up to 3200 MHz over a 2×16-bit bus, providing peak bandwidth of 25.6 GB/s. UFS 3.1 storage is supported. The maximum display configuration is FHD+ at 144 Hz.

For the user interface, Qualcomm added Snapdragon Smooth Motion UI. According to the company's internal testing, apps launch 20% faster and UI stutters occur 18% less often. Gaming features include Adaptive Performance Engine 5.0, Adaptive Performance FPS 3.0, and Game Super Resolution.

Wireless connectivity is strong for a Snapdragon 6-series chip: Wi-Fi 7 with channels up to 320 MHz, Bluetooth 6.0 with LE Audio and Channel Sounding, and dual-band L1+L5 GNSS. The modem supports only sub-6 GHz 5G, with download speeds of up to 2.8 Gbps, and complies with 3GPP Release 17.

What Qualcomm Cut

Compared with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, the list of cut features is fairly long:

• USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.2 Gen 1. The difference will be noticeable when transferring large files or videos over a cable.
• No mmWave. Support for millimeter-wave 5G has been removed.
• Two 12-bit ISPs instead of three on the previous generation. The platform supports cameras up to 200 MP and 4K HDR recording at 30 FPS.
• No hardware AV1 decoding. That is an unpleasant limitation for a modern mobile chip, as AV1 is already widely used by video streaming services.
• aptX Lossless is no longer listed in the platform specifications, even though the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 supported it.
• The L2 GNSS band is gone. Only L1 and L5 remain.

So while the generation number is newer, not every part of the platform has moved forward. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 gets newer wireless connectivity and faster graphics while rolling back the CPU architecture and several peripheral features.

Device Benchmarks and Prices

There are currently three smartphones on the market using the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5. Despite using the same processor, their prices differ by nearly twofold.

The $499 Redmi Note 17 Pro Max uses the same processor as the $295 Honor sold in China. The extra money goes toward the display, battery, cameras, other components, and regional pricing - not a faster SoC.

Comparison With Competitors

According to NanoReview, the Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 leads the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 by about 4% in AnTuTu and just 1% in Geekbench 6 single-core performance. The gap grows to 11% in the multi-core test thanks to four performance-oriented Cortex-A78 cores instead of the previous chip's one higher-clocked Cortex-A720 plus three lower-clocked A720 cores.

Tests of retail devices tell the same story. The Honor X80 Pro Max scores about 1095 points in Geekbench 6 single-core and 3355 in multi-core. The Honor Magic 8 Lite with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 scores roughly 1112 and 3124 points, respectively.

In other words, the new generation delivers virtually no improvement in single-core performance. The older Cortex-A78 cores compensate for their age with higher core count and clock speeds only in multi-core workloads.

The Dimensity 7400 uses the same CPU layout: four Cortex-A78 cores at 2.6 GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0 GHz. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 essentially repeats the CPU configuration of a mid-range MediaTek chip introduced back in February 2025.

The Snapdragon's main advantage here is not its CPU. It scores 4253 in GPU Compute compared with 3069 for the Dimensity 7400, while its wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7 instead of Wi-Fi 6.

Who Is It For?

The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 is not being sold on a major jump in CPU performance. In single-core workloads, it is barely faster than the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4, while the CPU architecture itself is older.

Manufacturers do get faster graphics, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, and a platform that can be used in relatively affordable smartphones with very large batteries. The Honor X80 Pro Max has an 11,000 mAh battery, while the POCO X8 Power and the Japanese version of the Redmi Note 17 Pro Max both come with 10,000 mAh batteries.

When choosing between smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 and Snapdragon 6 Gen 5, the generation number alone tells you very little. Single-core performance is virtually unchanged. The Gen 5 is faster in multi-core workloads and graphics, but in return buyers get an older Cortex-A78 architecture, ARMv8.2, USB 2.0, two ISPs instead of three, and no hardware AV1 decoding.

Price, display quality, battery capacity, cameras, and the specific phone configuration therefore matter more than the Snapdragon generation printed on the spec sheet.

The Redmi Note 17 Pro Max at around $500 looks particularly questionable. The Snapdragon 6 Gen 5 is already available in phones priced below $300, so a $500 price tag has to be justified by the rest of the hardware. The SoC itself certainly does not justify the premium.