MediaTek has just released a mobile processor king featuring all big performance cores instead of big + little efficiency cores found in Snapdragon series. MediaTek just want to destroy Snapdragon in pure performance just like they did with Dimesity 9400, now the 9500 series is getting a lot of juicy performance hardware including the AI features like NPU for on device LLM computing. Check out our hardware specs comparision of the two current top of the line mobile processors.
MediaTek Dimensity 9500 vs. Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite: Specs Comparison
Both are flagship ARM-based mobile SoCs targeting premium Android smartphones in late 2025 and 2026. The Dimensity 9500 emphasizes all-big-core CPU design with generative AI focus, while the Snapdragon 8 Elite prioritizes balanced efficiency and GPU prowess via custom Oryon cores. Benchmarks are early estimates from leaks and initial tests; real-world results vary by device and optimization.
| Specification | MediaTek Dimensity 9500 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite |
|---|---|---|
| Release Date | September 22, 2025 | October, 2024 |
| Manufacturing Process | 3nm (TSMC N3P) | 3nm (TSMC N3E) |
| CPU Architecture | 1x Arm C1-Ultra (prime) + 3x Arm C1-Premium + 4x Arm C1-Pro (all-big-core) | 2x Oryon prime (performance) + 6x Oryon (performance/efficiency hybrid) |
| CPU Clock Speed | 1x up to 4.21 GHz (C1-Ultra), 3x ~3.5 GHz (C1-Premium), 4x ~2.7 GHz (C1-Pro) | 2x up to 4.32 GHz (prime), 6x up to 3.53 GHz |
| Cache | 2MB L2 (prime) + 1MB L2 (x3 premium) + 512KB L2 (x4 pro) + 16MB L3 + 10MB SLC | ~12MB L2 + 12MB SLC (shared) |
| Cores | Octa-core (8) | Octa-core (8) |
| Single-Core Performance (Geekbench 6 est.) | ~3,200–3,400 | ~3,200–3,300 |
| Multi-Core Performance (Geekbench 6 est.) | ~10,500–11,000 (16% uplift over 9400) | ~10,000–10,500 (45% uplift over 8 Gen 3) |
| Memory Support | LPDDR5X-10667 (up to 24 GB) | LPDDR5X-8533 (up to 24 GB) |
| Storage Support | UFS 4.1 (4-lane) | UFS 4.0 (4-lane) |
| GPU | Arm Immortalis-G1 Ultra MC12 (integrated) | Adreno 830 (integrated, up to 1.1 GHz) |
| GPU Performance (3DMark Wild Life Extreme est.) | ~12,000–13,000 (33% uplift over 9400) | ~11,500–12,500 (40% uplift over 8 Gen 3) |
| NPU / AI Accelerator | MediaTek NPU 990 (up to 80 TOPS; generative AI, agentic AI, compute-in-memory) | Hexagon NPU (up to 75 TOPS; multimodal gen AI) |
| AI Benchmark (MLPerf est.) | Strong in on-device 4K image gen and LLMs | Competitive in prompt processing and diffusion models |
| Connectivity (Cellular) | 5G R17 Sub-6GHz (FR1), DL 5CC 350MHz, UL 2CC 200MHz, 5G-CA, SA/NSA, 4×4 MIMO DL | 5G R17 Sub-6GHz/mmWave, DL 10CC, UL 4CC, 8×8 MIMO DL, Snapdragon X80 modem |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 7 (TBTC, 7.3 Gbps peak) | Wi-Fi 7 (4×4, 5.8 Gbps peak) |
| Bluetooth | 6.0 (dual engine, 12 Mbps peak) | 5.4 (A2DP, LE Audio) |
| GNSS | GPS L1/L5/L1C, BeiDou B1I/B1C/B2a/B2b, GLONASS L1OF, Galileo E1/E5a/E5b, QZSS L1/L5, NavIC L1/L5 | GPS L1/L5, BeiDou B1I/B2a/B2b, GLONASS L1, Galileo E1/E5a, QZSS L1/L5, NavIC L5 |
| Camera Support | Up to 320 MP sensor, 8K@60fps capture, 4K@120fps with EIS, 4K@60 cinematic | Up to 200 MP sensor, 8K@30fps, 4K@120fps HDR, triple 18-bit ISP |
| Video Decode/Encode | Decode: 8K@60 10-bit (HEVC/AVC/VP9/AV1); Encode: 8K@30 10-bit, 8K@60 8-bit HEVC | Decode: 8K@60 (H.265/AVC/VP9/AV1); Encode: 8K@30 (H.265) |
| Display Support | WQHD+ @180Hz, Tri-port MIPI (tri-fold) | 4K@60Hz or QHD+@180Hz (external), dual DP 2.1 |
| Power / Efficiency | Up to 55% peak power reduction vs. 9400; MediaTek 5G UltraSave | Up to 45% better efficiency vs. 8 Gen 3; adaptive power management |
| Target Devices | Flagship Android phones (e.g., Vivo X300, Oppo Find X9) | Flagship Android phones (e.g., Samsung Galaxy S25, Xiaomi 15) |
| Strengths | Superior multi-core CPU for sustained loads, advanced AI for gen models, high-res imaging | Better single-core and GPU for gaming/emulation, superior modem for global 5G, broader ecosystem support |
| Weaknesses | Slightly lower clock on prime core, less mature ray tracing vs. Adreno | Fewer high-cache layers, UFS 4.0 lags behind in storage speed |
What remains to be seen is which premium segment phones will feature this top end D9500 mobile processor. Any guesses?
We also have Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 mobile processor release slated for tomorrow which should bring competition to this D9500 chip.
