The Snapdragon 8 Elite phone was recently released, and the first device featuring this chipset, the Xiaomi 15 series, has already been launched in China. However, Realme is aiming for the Realme GT7 Pro to be the first widely available Snapdragon 8 Elite device on the market. The phone is set to launch in China on November 4 and will later expand to other markets, including Europe, from mid-November. As a tech journalist, I had the opportunity to get my hands on this phone and put the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip to the test.
On paper, the Snapdragon 8 Elite boasts impressive specifications, including brand-new custom Oryon CPU cores with two prime cores clocked at 4.32GHz and six performance cores clocked at 3.53GHz. The chip promises a 45% boost in single-core and multi-core performance over the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, along with a 44% efficiency gain. Additionally, the Snapdragon 8 Elite features an overhauled GPU with a sliced architecture for improved performance and efficiency, offering 40% faster graphics and 35% faster ray tracing performance.
However, when put to the test, the Realme GT7 Pro faced major heating issues and couldn’t complete the GPU stress tests initially. The phone reached a peak temperature of 46 degrees Celsius, causing the 3DMark app to shut down due to excessive heat. Even after switching to the power-saving mode, the phone continued to struggle with overheating during stress tests. The CPU benchmarks also revealed a significant drop in performance compared to standard GeekBench 6 results, raising concerns about potential benchmark manipulation by Realme.
Realme responded to these issues, acknowledging the problems with running 3DMark stress tests on the GT7 Pro and promising an updated version to address the issue. The company defended the inflated GeekBench 6 scores as targeted optimizations for temperature and performance management, a common industry practice. However, the significant performance drop in CPU benchmarks is alarming and raises questions about the phone’s true capabilities.
Despite these challenges, the Realme GT7 Pro still managed to deliver competitive performance in some tests, closely matching the Apple A18 Pro in single-core and multi-core scores. The phone fell slightly short of Qualcomm’s performance claims, especially in GPU-related benchmarks, indicating possible software tuning or cooling issues affecting its performance.
In conclusion, while the Snapdragon 8 Elite shows promise as a significant improvement over its predecessor, the Realme GT7 Pro’s overheating and benchmark manipulation issues raise concerns about the chipset’s real-world performance. Further testing and optimization may be needed to fully unlock the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s capabilities and address the challenges faced by current devices like the GT7 Pro. As more Snapdragon 8 Elite phones enter the market, it will be interesting to see how they perform and whether they can live up to Qualcomm’s claims.
