Qualcomm introduced its most powerful chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, in October last year. The company’s latest flagship brings a substantial performance boost in CPU and GPU, making it perfect for gaming and demanding tasks like image and video editing. Compared to its predecessor – the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the new chipset packs a 45 per cent faster CPU, and a 40 per cent faster GPU while improving power efficiency by around 40 per cent. If you’re in the market looking for a phone powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, here are some of the top choices available right now.
Realme’s GT series phones are known to offer flagship specs at a significantly cheaper price than the competition, and the Realme GT 7 Pro is no different. Launched in November last year, the phone has a quad-curved 6.78-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED screen that can reach up to 2,000 nits, making it one of the best phones to read articles, watch videos or just scroll social media when you are outdoors.
The back of the phone has a triple camera setup which consists of a 50MP primary, an 8MP ultrawide lens and a 50MP telephoto sensor that supports 3x optical zoom. While this isn’t the best camera phone, photos do come out well in daylight as well as at nighttime.
The device runs on Realme UI 6.0 based on Android 15 out of the box with the company promising 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security patches. Similar to most flagship phones, the Realme GT 7 Pro comes with IP68 and IP69 ratings, meaning you can take it to the beach and even shoot pictures underwater.
It packs in a 5,800mAh battery that supports 120W wired charging. If you are looking for the Snapdragon 8 Elite that barely throttles, has a huge battery and don’t mind the average 8MP ultrawide shooter, the Realme GT 7 Pro is an easy recommendation. The base variant of the phone that comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB is currently available for as low as Rs 54,998.
The iQOO 13 comes with an RGB LED on the back that doubles up as a notification LED. (Image Source: iQOO)
iQOO 13
Want a gaming phone with a huge battery and flagship cameras? The recently launched iQOO 13 might be your type. It has a huge 6.82-inch 144Hz LTPO AMOLED screen and like the Realme GT 7 Pro, is IP68 and IP69 rated.
The device has an aluminium frame and an RGB LED on the back that lights up when playing games and also doubles as a notification LED. It runs on Funtouch OS 15 based on Android 15 and is slated to get 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of security patches.
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iQOO’s Funtouch OS might not be the best-looking or feature-packed Android skin, but it does offer some useful gaming features like game frame interpolation, which uses fake frames to offer a smoother gaming experience. On the back, you get a squarish camera island that houses a 50MP primary sensor in addition to a 50MP ultrawide shooter and a 50MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom.
All of this is backed by a huge 6,000mAh battery that supports 120W wired charging. However, like the Realme GT 7 Pro, it misses out on wireless charging. The iQOO 13 starts from Rs 54,999.
OnePlus 13 has a 6.82-inch AMOLED screen. (Express Photo)
OnePlus 13
Like the iQOO 13, the recently launched OnePlus 13 (review) is another great flagship phone powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. The phone comes with a 6.82-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED screen with OnePlus promising up to 4 major OS upgrades.
Available in a variety of finishes like faux leather and glass, the OnePlus 13 packs a 50MP primary sensor in addition to a 50MP ultrawide shooter and a 50MP periscope telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, all tuned by Hasselblad.
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Like the iQOO 13, it has a 6,000mAh battery that supports 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. If you are looking for a flagship phone to play games on, click good photos and a big battery without spending much, the OnePlus 13 is an easy recommendation. It starts from Rs 69,998.
The ROG Phone 9 Pro is one of the best gaming phones money can buy.
ROG Phone 9 Pro
Asus launched the ROG Phone 9 Pro in November last year, and while this isn’t the best camera phone by any means, it does excel in gaming. Similar to previous ROG Phones, you get a programmable mini-LED on the back in addition to the 6.78-inch 185Hz LTPO AMOLED screen, which is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2.
The device runs on heavily modified Android 15 out of the box that offers some really intuitive gaming features and is slated to get 2 years of OS updates. It has a 50MP primary, a 13MP ultrawide lens and a 5MP macro sensor, so those looking for a gaming phone with a telephoto shooter might be disappointed.
It is backed by a 5,800mAh battery that supports 65W wired. 15W wireless charging and 10W reverse wired charging. The ROG Phone 9 Pro starts from $1,199 (approx. Rs 1,04,226), but you will have to import one since it is not available for purchase in India.
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The Galaxy S25 runs on One UI 7 and is currently the best Samsung has to offer. (Express Photo)
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Samsung’s latest flagship – the Galaxy S25 Ultra is one of the best Snapdragon 8 Elite phones you can buy right now. Not only does the device pack in Qualcomm’s fastest chipset, but it also arguably has the best software experience a smartphone can offer.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra features a 6.9-inch 120Hz LTPO AMOLED screen protected by Gorilla Armor 2 and a rounded titanium frame that looks and feels premium.
Running on One UI 7 based on Android 15 out of the box, the Galaxy S25 Ultra comes with numerous useful AI features powered by Gemini and will get 7 years of OS updates and security patches. It also happens to have one of the best camera setups on a smartphone.
The back of the device has four individual camera cutouts, which house a 200MP main camera, a 50MP ultrawide sensor, another 50MP periscope telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and a 10MP telephoto shooter with 3x optical zoom.
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All of this is backed by a 5,000mAh battery that supports 45W wired and 15W wireless charging. If you are looking for a phone that offers a great software experience and excellent performance and camera setup, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is a no-brainer. It starts from Rs 1,29,999.
