Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vs Dimensity 9500: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips have long dominated the Android world with their unchallenged equilibrium of power and efficiency. But MediaTek has staged an incredible comeback with its Dimensity range, and now it goes toe to toe with Qualcomm. In 2025, both companies will launch their most powerful offerings ever, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and the Dimensity 9500. Both deliver revolutionary performance, next-generation efficiency, and AI capabilities. But whose “flagship” tag is earned? Let’s investigate.
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Benchmark Performance: Snapdragon Remains Ahead
Benchmark tests show Qualcomm retains its advantage, albeit by a narrower margin than previously. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 registered 3,634 single-core and 10,813 multi-core on Geekbench 6, ahead of the Dimensity 9500, which recorded 3,177 and 9,701, respectively. The tests indicate roughly 15% improved single-core and 12% improved multi-core performance for Snapdragon.
In real-world usage, this means quicker app launches, more seamless multitasking, and enhanced gaming performance. The Elite Gen 5’s latest Oryon CPU architecture provides sustained speed even after hours of usage, providing better thermal efficiency and stability with high loads.
AnTuTu Results: A Close Race
Both chipsets broke the 4 million mark when tested on AnTuTu, a first in the industry. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 led the pack with 4,166,339 points, marginally more than Dimensity 9500’s 4,011,932. Although the CPU score was dominated by Snapdragon by a wide 16% margin, the GPU score went in MediaTek’s favor at a 3% difference (1,510,982 vs. 1,468,351).
The Snapdragon took back dominance, though, with more UX and AI performance points, indicating that it’s more optimized for gaming improvements, camera processing, and multitasking performance. Both chipsets provide blinding memory speed with LPDDR5X (up to 5.3GHz) and UFS 4.1 storage, which provides lag-free responsiveness.
Architecture and Efficiency: Different Approaches, Same Goal
Both chipsets are developed on TSMC’s 3nm (N3P) process, with an emphasis on improved efficiency and thermal management. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 uses a 2+6 core configuration, with two high-end cores at 4.61GHz and six performance cores at 3.63GHz. MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 has a different approach, employing an All Big Core architecture, a C1-Ultra core at 4.21GHz, three C1-Premium cores, and four C1-Pro cores.
Though MediaTek’s design prefers continuous multi-core performance, Qualcomm’s configuration provides higher single-threaded power and superior AI task execution. The Hexagon NPU of the Snapdragon is 37% faster and 16% more efficient than before, enabling complex on-device AI models, whereas the MediaTek NPU 990 boasts twice the speed with 56% reduced peak power consumption.
GPU, Camera, and Connectivity: Feature-Packed Flagships
The Adreno 840 GPU within the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 provides hardware-based ray tracing and Snapdragon Elite Gaming improvements, bringing mobile visuals closer to the level of fidelity found in consoles. The Mali-G1 Ultra GPU within the Dimensity 9500 also offers ray tracing and improved power efficiency, perfect for playing games over a longer period.
For camera processing, Qualcomm’s 20-bit Spectra Triple ISP can cater to sensors of up to 320MP and 8K video recording, with real-time segmentation for professional-grade quality. MediaTek responds with Imagiq 1190 ISP, also capable of 8K recording and AI-based denoise and focus tracking for crisper outcomes.
On the connectivity side, Snapdragon takes the lead with its X85 5G modem, clocking a peak download rate of 12.5 Gbps and 5.8 Gbps Wi-Fi 7 throughput. Dimensity 9500 is not much behind with slower 7.4 Gbps 5G but a quicker 7.3 Gbps Wi-Fi 7 connection.
Verdict: Snapdragon Still Leads, but Dimensity Fights Back
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is still the performance champion, with better benchmarks, stronger single-core performance, and wider AI support. Still, the Dimensity 9500 gets some credit for coming very close to Qualcomm’s performance with more efficient GPU usage and higher Wi-Fi speeds.
If you desire pure power, cutting-edge camera processing, and unparalleled 5G performance, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 has no rival. But if your priorities are energy efficiency and gaming optimization, the Dimensity 9500 is the wisest choice so far.