5G-Advanced, standardized in 3GPP Release 18, is now shifting from “spec on paper” to real-world commercial rollouts. While operator deployments and feature roadmaps are accelerating, the device ecosystem remains in an early adoption phase, with limited fully Rel-18-compliant silicon and a still-concentrated modem/vendor landscape.
What the device data says
Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA)’s tracking highlights a key inflection point:
- Only one chipset has been released that is fully compatible with 3GPP Rel-18 from both a hardware and software standpoint.
- GSA has identified 75 devices that are hardware-compatible with Rel-18, primarily built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite or Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile platforms.
This underscores how Rel-18 support is appearing first in premium tiers—where OEMs typically adopt the newest modem-RF platforms earliest.
Qualcomm is not the only participant in 5G-Advanced. However, it is currently the only major silicon vendor with a commercial smartphone modem-RF platform positioned for 5G-Advanced at scale, and it is broadly adopted across Android OEM portfolios (e.g., Snapdragon X75/X80 generation).
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: broad flagship penetration
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powers a wide range of recent flagship devices, including examples such as:
- Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
- Galaxy Z Fold6 / Z Flip6, plus several other 8 Gen 3 flagships across Android OEMs
This breadth matters: it gives the market a large installed base of “near-Rel-18-ready” hardware platforms, even if full Rel-18 feature enablement may depend on modem firmware, OEM configuration, and network readiness.
Snapdragon 8 Elite: early Rel-18 hardware adoption in top-tier devices
Snapdragon 8 Elite is already showing up in top-tier premium devices, with confirmed examples including:
- OnePlus 13
- Xiaomi 15 series
- ASUS ROG Phone 9 series
This positions Snapdragon 8 Elite primarily in performance-focused premium phones—exactly where new cellular capabilities tend to land first.
Why Snapdragon 8 Elite matters
Snapdragon 8 Elite is Qualcomm’s latest high-end flagship platform, marketed around major improvements in CPU/GPU performance and efficiency versus the prior generation—raising the ceiling for on-device AI, sustained gaming workloads, and high-performance connectivity experiences.