Qualcomm just announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite as the flagship processor, which will power upcoming premium smartphones. This announcement arrives mere weeks after MediaTek unveiled its own high end Dimensity 9400 SoC. We had written an early comparison based on rumors and leaks of these two chips. So let’s see how the Snapdragon 8 Elite compares against the Dimensity 9400 now.
1. Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400: Specifications
MediaTek’s new Dimensity 9400 features MediaTek’s 2nd Gen All Big Core design, which includes the powerful ARM Cortex-X925 core. These run at over 3.62GHz and combine three Cortex X4 cores and four Cortex A720 cores. This enables the chip to offer 35% faster single-core and 28% faster multi-core performance compared to the Dimensity 9300.
It is built on TSMC’s 2nd Gen 3nm process, allowing for up to 40% more power efficiency as well. The Dimensity 9400 has a new NPU for improved AI functionality and a 12-core ARM Immortalis-G925 GPU for 40% faster ray tracing performance.
Qualcomm and MediaTek had the same idea as the Snapdragon 8 Elite also incorporates an All Big Core design. It has eight cores with 2x prime cores, which are clocked at an impressive 4.32GHz along with 6x performance cores with a 3.53GHz clock speed. The new Snapdragon 8 Elite was built on TSMC’s 3nm process, promising a 45% increase in CPU performance while boasting a 44% improvement in power efficiency.
Thanks to an upgraded Adreno 830 GPU, there is also a 40% improvement in both performance and power efficiency along with 35% faster ray tracing as well. This chip also supports Unreal Engine 5.3 and its Nanite virtualized geometry system.
2. Big Focus on AI
MediaTek showcased its Dimensity 9400 chip with its 8th Gen NPU. It launched as the first mobile chipset to support on-device LoRA training and high-quality on-device video generation. The chipset features Dimensity Agentic AI Engine (DAE) for up to 80% faster LLM prompt performance and 35% improved efficiency.
On the other hand, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite packed the new Hexagon NPU with a 45% improvement in AI processor speed. It arrives with support for both large and small AI models along with Qualcomm’s QI Engine, which brings multimodal AI support.
3. Benchmarks
Just earlier today, our report covered how the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s performance managed to rival the Apple A18 Pro. It managed to rival the A18 Pro in single core test in GeekBench 6, while its multi core scores crossed over 10,000 points. Ahead of the launch, an older GeekBench sighting listed the device with 2884 (single) and 8840 (multi) points respectively. On AnTuTu, this chip managed to get a score of over 3 million. Regardless, it is one of the fastest processors for Android smartphones right now.
Meanwhile, the Dimensity 9400 was first seen getting a GeekBench score of 2818 points in the single core test, while its multi core scores reached 8847 points. Just like the Snapdragon 8 Elite, the MediaTek chip also crossed the 3 million mark on AnTuTu.
4. Conclusion
Both Qualcomm and MediaTek are offering a notable leap in performance with their latest flagship chips. But as I initially suspected, the Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400 are quite competitive in most aspects. Not only is there a notable bump in raw performance, but AI and graphics processing speeds have also seen an upgrade. Even battery efficiency has seen improvements. In the benchmarks, the two chips only have a single digit percentage difference. So real world test with the new premium phones might determine which processor is the best. But whatever you choose, these two are the best chipsets you can have on your Android flagship.
