MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 made a strong impression last year, but it couldn’t quite outperform Qualcomm’s powerhouse, the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Fast forward to September, and MediaTek is back with a bold new challenger: the Dimensity 9500. The company claims it brings massive gains in performance, power efficiency, and AI processing — all areas where Snapdragon has long dominated.

The Dimensity 9500 is MediaTek’s best shot yet at taking the performance crown. But does it finally outmuscle the Snapdragon 8 Elite, or is Qualcomm still the benchmark to beat? Let’s dive into the numbers and find out.

Let’s begin with the spec sheet.

	Dimensity 9500	Snapdragon 8 Elite
Announced	September 2024	October 2024
Process node	TSMC’s 3nm (N3P)	TSMC’s 3nm (N3E)
CPU cores	octa-core	octa-core
CPU cores	1 x 4.21 GHz — C1-Ultra 3 x 3.5 GHz —C1-Premium 4 x 2.7 GHz — C1-Pro	2 x 4.32GHz — Oryon (2nd gen) 6 x 3.53GHz — Oryon (2nd gen)
GPU	Mali-G1 Ultra MP12 120 FPS ray traced mobile gaming MediaTek HyperEngine Gaming Technology MRFC 3.0 technology	Adreno 830 Ray tacing support Snapdragon Elite Gaming features
NPU	MediaTek NPU 990	Qualcomm Hexagon NPU
Memory	LPDDR5X, up to 5.3 GHz	LPDDR5X, up to 5.3GHz
Storage	4-lane UFS 4.1	UFS 4.0
Camera	MediaTek Imagiq 1190 ISP up to 320MP single camera up to 8K video recording 4K/120fps video recording (EIS) 4K/60fps cinematic video capture real-time semantic segmentation support	Qualcomm Spectra Triple ISPs (18-bit) up to 320MP single camera up to 108MP single camera with zero shutter lag up to 48MP triple cameras with zero shutter lag up to 8K video recording limitless real-time semantic segmentation (up to 250 layers)
Connectivity	3GPP Release-17 5G modem download speed: 7.4 Gbps Wi-Fi 7 (peak speed: 7.3 Gbps) Bluetooth 6.0	Snapdragon X80 5G modem download speed: up to 10 Gbps upload speed: up to 3.5 Gbps Wi-Fi 7 (peak speed: 5.8 Gbps) Bluetooth 6.0

Dimensity 9500 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite: benchmark comparison

Note: For benchmark numbers, we tested the Vivo X300 Pro (Dimensity 9500) and Xiaomi 15 (Snapdragon 8 Elite).

Geekbench score

On the Geekbench 6 platform, the Dimensity 9500 achieves roughly 13% higher score in single-core and 9% higher score in multi-core performance. While these are not huge leaps, the Dimensity 9500-powered phones should feel faster compared to Snapdragon 8 Elite.

Geekbench 6	Dimensity 9500	Snapdragon 8 Elite
Single core	3,452	3,047
Multi core	10,128	9,286

AnTuTu score

On AnTuTu v11, MediaTek’s chip takes a clear lead with a total score about 22% higher than the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

The CPU gains are modest at around 5%, but the GPU score jumps by over 25%, signaling a major leap in graphics performance. The Dimensity 9500 also shows stronger memory and UX performance, hinting at smoother multitasking and faster app responsiveness.

AnTuTu 11	Dimensity 9500	Snapdragon 8 Elite
AnTuTu score	3,622,840	2,981,542
CPU	942,069	909,797
GPU	1,364,441	1,091,509
Memory	602,541	392,463
UX	713,788	587,773

3D Mark Wild Life Extreme score

The 3D Mark’s Wide Life Extreme is a popular gaming benchmark that measures a GPU’s performance under demanding graphics workloads.

The high score represents the best performance when the device runs at its maximum capability. In other words, it represents how well a device can handle short bursts of intense graphics workloads, similar to what happens in demanding mobile games. The low score reflects how well the device maintains performance over time, showing the impact of thermal throttling and sustained workload management.

Here, the Dimensity 9500 delivers a 49% higher high score and 17% higher sustained score, suggesting it can maintain better performance over longer gaming sessions.

3D Mark Extreme Test	Dimensity 9500	Snapdragon 8 Elite
High score	7,163	4,809
Low score	4,230	3,625

Dimensity 9500 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite: key differences

Both chips have been manufactured by TSMC using its 3nm process node, but they still bring several differences. The Dimensity 9500 utilizes the latest N3P technology, which provides slightly improved performance and power efficiency compared to the N3E process used for the Snapdragon 8 Elite.

The Dimensity 9500’s CPU consists of the latest ARM cores, which include one C1-Ultra core, three C1-Premium cores, and four C1-Pro cores. The Snapdragon 8 Elite, on the other hand, uses self-designed second-generation Oryon CPU cores. In fact, this is the first Qualcomm mobile chipset to feature Oryon cores.

For the graphics-related tasks such as gaming and visual rendering, the Dimensity 9500 features a 12-core Mali-G1 Ultra GPU with support for 120fps ray-traced mobile gaming. The chip also features MediaTek HyperEngine Gaming Technology, a suite of gaming features designed to offer optimized gaming performance and power efficiency.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite is equipped with the Adreno 830 GPU, featuring the new sliced architecture. It also supports hardware-based ray tracing and the Snapdragon Elite Gaming features for an enhanced gaming experience.

The two chipsets also don’t miss out on the on-device AI capabilities, thanks to MediaTek NPU 990 on the Dimensity 9500 and a Qualcomm Hexagon NPU on the Snapdragon 8 Elite. Both are high-performance and highly efficient NPUs with large context windows and agentic AI capabilities. The NPUs also help optimize camera performance, connectivity, and gaming.

The Dimensity 9500 features the Imagiq 1190 ISP, which supports up to 320MP single camera and up to 8K video recording. MediaTek says the chip can record 4K/120fps videos with electronic image stabilization (EIS) and 4K/60fps cinematic video. The chip also supports real-time semantic segmentation.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite also features power camera capabilities, enabling up to 320MP single-camera capture and up to 8K video recording. It features 18-bit triple ISPs with limitless semantic segmentation at 4K resolution. Additionally, the chip offers numerous camera features, including AI-based auto-exposure, AI-based auto-focus, AI-based face detection, Truepic photo capture, Video super resolution, and Engine for Visual Analytics 3.0.

The two flagship chipsets also bring notable differences in connectivity. The Dimensity 9500, featuring a 3GPP Release-17 5G modem, supports a peak speed of up to 7.4 Gbps. On a Wi-Fi 7 connection, it can reach up to 7.3 Gbps. On the other hand, the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s X80 5G modem supports download speeds of up to 10 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 3.5 Gbps. The peak speed over a Wi-Fi 7 connection is 5.8 Gbps. In short, MediaTek leads in Wi-Fi throughput, while Qualcomm maintains an edge in 5G performance.

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The post Dimensity 9500 vs Snapdragon 8 Elite: Benchmarks and Specs appeared first on Gizmochina.