Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 V-Series gaming test shows losses up to 33%

What the V-Series chipset changes

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 V-Series keeps the same CPU and AI architecture as the regular flagship chipset, but it scales back the graphics processor. According to Notebookcheck, the Adreno 840 in the V-Series has only two GPU slices instead of three, so one third of the graphics hardware is missing.

The comparison is not perfectly equal, though. The Galaxy S26 Ultra runs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, a variant that clocks slightly higher than the standard chip. Notebookcheck notes that this speed advantage may also contribute to the results, alongside the reduced GPU configuration.

The V-Series chip was tested in the Poco F9 Pro, which served as the lower-cost representative of the family.

PUBG Mobile results split by graphics preset

In PUBG Mobile, the two phones performed almost identically at lower graphics settings. With the Smooth preset, the Poco F9 Pro averaged 116.7 fps while the Galaxy S26 Ultra reached 118.4 fps, a difference of just 1.4%. At HD settings the gap stayed small, with averages of 88 fps and 89.1 fps respectively.

The picture changed sharply at the Ultra HD preset. The Samsung averaged 59.7 fps, effectively holding its 60 fps limit, while the Poco managed only 39.9 fps. That works out to a performance deficit of around 33%. Notebookcheck reports that the Poco's frame rates remained largely stable despite the lower average.

Genshin Impact shows no difference

In Genshin Impact, the gap disappeared entirely. With the highest graphics settings and 120 fps mode enabled, the Poco F9 Pro averaged 59.8 fps and the Galaxy S26 Ultra 59.5 fps. Both phones appear to be capped at 60 fps in this scenario, so the stronger GPU in the Samsung could not pull ahead.

This result underlines a pattern from the PUBG Mobile test. Whenever a frame rate limit comes into play, the extra graphics hardware in the full flagship chip makes little difference in practice.

What the results mean for buyers

Notebookcheck's measurements show that losing one third of the GPU slices does not automatically cost one third of the gaming performance. In titles that run against a frame rate cap, the V-Series chip keeps pace with the flagship variant almost exactly.

Under heavier graphics workloads without such a cap, however, the gap becomes substantial, as the Ultra HD PUBG Mobile result demonstrates. Readers choosing between a V-Series phone and a full flagship should therefore consider which games and settings they actually use. The figures come from Notebookcheck's own testing and have not been verified independently.