Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Can Get Really Hot

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S26 Ultra is shaping up to be one of the most powerful Android phones ever made. It may feature Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip globally, which promises solid performance. However, benchmark tests suggest that the chip can get very hot during demanding tasks. Hopefully, the Korean firm will use an improved cooling system to help manage the heat while maintaining stable performance.

OEMs must focus on advanced cooling to integrate the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5

Folks over at Android Authority recently ran stress tests on two Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip-powered smartphones: REDMAGIC 11 Pro and realme GT8 Pro. The former, which comes with a liquid cooling system and fan setup, managed to sustain high performance for longer periods. However, temperatures climbed up to around 56°C, which will definitely make the phone uncomfortable to hold.

As for the latter, it remained noticeably cooler, reaching about 44.1°C under similar conditions. However, this comes at a cost — the device had to heavily throttle its performance. In stress tests, its power output dropped to as low as 28.6% of its peak performance. So, it’s quite challenging for smartphone makers to integrate the powerful chip into their latest flagship models.

If Samsung wants to take the full potential of Qualcomm’s new powerhouse chip on its Galaxy S26 Ultra, it will need to focus on improving heat management. This could include an upgraded vapor chamber and smarter performance tuning so the phone remains cooler during demanding tasks like long gaming sessions.

For the uninitiated, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 features a 3rd-generation Oryon CPU running at speeds up to 4.6GHz. The chip offers around 20% faster performance and 35% better power efficiency than its predecessor. Thanks to the new Adreno GPU, it brings a 23% boost in graphics performance and 20% improved efficiency.

An earlier report suggested that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will use a custom version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, featuring slightly faster prime cores at 4.74 GHz. Since higher clock speeds also come with the risk of extra heat, it will be interesting to see how Samsung balances temperature and performance.