Both Qualcomm and MediaTek announced their new flagship processors quite recently. Qualcomm’s arrived earlier today, while MediaTek’s launched a couple of days ago. The processors in question are the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 from Qualcomm and the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 from MediaTek, the two chips that we are here to compare. Considering that these are processors, the comparison will be spec-heavy, as you’d expect, so prepare for that.
These two processors will be utilized in a ton of smartphones in the next year or so. Flagship phones will be using them, as was the case with the previous iterations. These two chips are basically the most-used flagship processors in smartphones. Qualcomm still has a notable advantage in that regard, in the flagship sector, but MediaTek is constantly expanding its presence. The Dimensity 9400 stood side-by-side with the Snapdragon 8 Elite in terms of performance, so this will be an interesting rivalry to witness.
Spec comparison
| Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | MediaTek Dimensity 9500 | |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | 64-bit | 64-bit |
| Process node | 3nm (N3P) | 3nm (N3P) |
| CPU | – Octa-core – Custom-built Qualcomm Oryon cores – 2 Prime cores up to 4.6GHz – 6 Performance cores up to 3.62GHz | – Octa-core – Arm cores – 1x Arm C1-Ultra, 2MB L2 cache – 3x Arm C1-Premium, 1MB L2 cache 4x Arm C1-Pro, 512KB L2 cache |
| GPU | – Last-gen Adreno GPU – 23% increase in overall performance – 20% reduction in power consumption | – Arm Mali-G1 Ultra with 2x raytracking units – 33% greater peak performance – 42% better power efficiency at peak performance – Up to 119% faster raytracing performance |
| Memory | LPDDR5X up to 5,300MHz (up to 24GB) | LPDDR5X 10667 |
| Storage | UFS 4.1 | – UFS 4.1 (4-lane) – 100% faster sequential data speeds |
| Wi-Fi | – Wi-Fi 7 (a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) – Peak speed 5.8Gbps | – Wi-Fi 7 (a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) – Peak speed 7.3Gbps |
| 5G Modem | – Qualcomm X85 5G Modem-RF – Peak speed 12.5Gbps | – MediaTek Release 17 5G modem – Peak speed 7.4Gbps |
| NPU | – Qualcomm Hexagon – 16% better performance per watt | MediaTek NPU 990 |
| ISP | – Qualcomm Spectra – Triple 20-bit AI-ISPs | Imagiq 1190 |
| Bluetooth | – Bluetooth 6.0 – LE Audio, – Bluetooth Channel Sounding | – Bluetooth 6.0 – Peak data rate 12Mbps |
| Display | 4K+ at 120Hz / QHD+ at 240GHz | WQHD+ at 180Hz |
| Location | – Concurrent GPS, Glonass, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS, NavIC – Triple frequency GNSS (L1/L2C/L5) – AI-based GNSS Location Gen 3 – Sensor-Assisted Positioning 6.0 – Urban pedestrian navigation with sidewalk accuracy – Global freeway lane-level vehicle navigation | – GPS L1CA+L5+L1C – BeiDou B1I+ B1C + B2a +B2b – Glonass L1OF – Galileo E1 + E5a + E5b – QZSS L1CA + L5 – NavIC L5 + L1 |
| Camera | – Up to 48 MP triple camera at 30FPS with Zero Shutter Lag – Up to 108 MP single camera at 30FPS with Zero Shutter Lag – Up to 320-megapixel photo capture – Google Ultra HDR photo capture – Up to 10-bit color depth photo and video capture – Video capture HDR formats: HDR10+, HDR10, HLG, – 8K HDR video playback at 60FPS – 4K video capture at 120FPS – Slow-mo video capture at 1080p at 480FPS | – 320MP max – 8K60 (7690 x 4320) – 4K120 with EIS – 4K60 cinematic mode |
| USB | Type-C Version 3.1 Gen 2 | N/A |
| Charging | Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 5 Technology | N/A |
| Audio | – Snapdragon Sound™ Technology Suite – Qualcomm® aptX™ Adaptive and aptX Lossless audio | |
| AI | Qualcomm AI Engine | Generative AI, Agentic AI |
| Power Savings | Qualcomm® 5G PowerSave | MediaTek 5G UltraSave, R17 Power Saving Enhancement |
What OEMs will use them?
Qualcomm has listed a number of smartphone manufacturers that will end up using the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The company does that every year at launch, and that number seems to be growing. Here’s the list: HONOR, IQOO, Nubia, OnePlus, OPPO, POCO, realme, Redmi, RedMagic, ASUS ROG, Samsung, Sony, vivo, Xiaomi, and ZTE. Those are the OEMs in non-specific order. Qualcomm did say that the first devices powered by this chip “will be launched in the coming days.”
What about the MediaTek Dimensity 9500? While not as popular, it does seem like more and more companies use it every year. MediaTek’s lower-end chips are used quite a bit more in comparison. What we know now is that both OPPO and Vivo will use this chip, and one of those two companies will likely be the first to utilize it. The OPPO Find X9 series is expected to be fueled by that chip, and it’s coming next month. It may as well be the first to use it
