Qualcomm Showcases Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Chips At IMC 2026, Teases New Flagships

Qualcomm used India Mobile Congress 2026 to showcase its latest flagship mobile processors, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. The company also offered a first look at upcoming phones set to use the new chips, including the iQOO 16, Motorola Signature 27 and Xiaomi 18 Pro.

The platforms are positioned around on-device “agentic AI”, gaming, imaging and connectivity upgrades. Qualcomm says the new generation is meant to make smartphones more proactive, handling tasks and recommendations with greater context while keeping more processing on the device.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 takes the top spot

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 is Qualcomm’s new top-tier mobile platform. It is aimed at the most expensive Android flagships and is expected to power the iQOO 16 and Motorola Signature 27, among the first announced devices.

Qualcomm says the chip will enable more personalised AI agents that can adapt to a user’s routine through the day. The company is also pitching it as a major step up for mobile gaming, thanks to a new feature called Adreno Neural Fusion. It uses AI-assisted graphics processing to improve visual quality and immersion while aiming to manage power use more efficiently.

Camera is another focus area. The Extreme variant supports Advanced Professional Video, or APV, alongside Qualcomm’s Intelligent Pixel Control technology. These features are intended to improve scene understanding, image processing and the natural look of photos and videos.

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 brings the platform to more flagships

The regular Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 will sit just below the Extreme model, though Qualcomm says it retains many of the same core capabilities. It is built on a 2nm process and combines Qualcomm’s custom Oryon CPU, redesigned Adreno GPU and Hexagon NPU.

That should allow more premium phones to offer the company’s latest AI, gaming, camera and connectivity features without necessarily carrying the Extreme branding. Xiaomi has confirmed that the Xiaomi 18 Pro will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6.

Xiaomi also highlighted the phone’s rear display, though it has not shared further details about the panel or the handset’s wider specifications yet.

iQOO, Motorola and Xiaomi line up new phones

iQOO CEO Nipun Marya confirmed that the iQOO 16 will be among the first phones powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. The brand is promising sustained performance alongside AI-led features designed to make day-to-day use simpler.

Motorola has similarly confirmed the Motorola Signature 27 with the same Extreme chip. The company says its upcoming flagship will pair the new platform with AI features, professional-grade imaging and connected experiences.

Qualcomm has not announced Indian availability, pricing or full specifications for any of the three phones. Those details are likely to be shared closer to each brand’s individual launch.