The Snapdragon 8 Elite, announced in October 2024, is Qualcomm’s most powerful smartphone chipset that promises huge upgrades over its predecessors. It boasts a powerful CPU with a peak frequency of over 4GHz and an Adreno 830 flagship GPU that does the heavy lifting when it comes to graphics-related tasks.
The Dimensity 9400, on the other hand, was also announced in October 2024. It also features powerful CPU cores with slightly lower peak frequency. However, the flagship-grade Mali-G925 Immortalis MP12 GPU runs at a higher frequency than the Adreno 830.
Both Qualcomm and MediaTek promise massive upgrades to their respective chips, but how do they stack up against each other? Let’s look at the benchmark numbers. Plus, we’ll also look at the key differences in this article for better understanding.
Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400: Benchmark comparison
Note: The tests were conducted on the iQOO 13 (powered by Snapdragon 8 Elite) and Oppo Find X8 Pro (powered by Dimensity 9400).
AnTuTu comparison
In AnTuTu benchmarks, the Snapdragon 8 Elite edges out the Dimensity 9400 with a slightly higher overall score. While both chipsets perform exceptionally well, the Snapdragon leads in CPU, memory, and UX performance. However, the Dimensity 9400 actually pulls ahead in GPU performance. Overall, the difference is minor, and both chips are powerhouses in the Android flagship space.
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | Dimensity 9400 | |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu score | 2,802,747 | 2,754,825 |
| CPU | 631,482 | 622,149 |
| GPU | 1,208,815 | 1,220,751 |
| Memory | 505,708 | 489,110 |
| UX | 456,742 | 422,815 |
Geekbench comparison
In Geekbench tests, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is ahead in both single-core and multi-core performance. Its higher scores suggest snappier responsiveness in everyday tasks and stronger multitasking capabilities than Dimensity 9400. That said, the Dimensity 9400 still delivers excellent performance and remains close behind, making it a strong competitor in the flagship segment.
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | Dimensity 9400 | |
| Single core | 3,056 | 2,904 |
| Multi core | 9,702 | 8,812 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test
The Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers higher peak performance, but its lower stability score suggests it throttles more under sustained load. Meanwhile, the Dimensity 9400 offers slightly lower peak performance but maintains better thermal stability as compared to the Snapdragon chip.
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | Dimensity 9400 | |
| Best loop score | 6,809 | 6,329 |
| Lowest loop score | 3,345 | 3,684 |
| Stability | 49.1% | 58.2% |
Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400: key differences that matter!
CPU
Both Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400 are built using TSMC’s 3nm cutting-edge technology, but they greatly differ in terms of core design and architecture. The 8 Elite, for instance, has two Oryon cores running at 4.32GHz and six Oryon cores at 3.53GHz. This is also the first Qualcomm mobile chipset to feature Oryon cores.
On the other hand, the Dimensity 9400 uses a 1+3+4 core design, featuring one Cortex-X925, three Cortex-X4, and four Cortex-A720 cores. Its peak frequency is slightly lower, at 3.63GHz, versus 4.23GHz on the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
GPU
The Snapdragon 8 Elite has a capable Adreno 830 GPU that runs high-end games smoothly at consistently high frame rates. The Dimensity 9400, on the other hand, has a Mali-G925 Immortalis MP12 GPU, which is also great for smartphone gaming.
Although both GPUs offer excellent gaming performance, the Mali-G925 Immortalis MP12 GPU is slightly ahead on the benchmarks. The latter GPU benefits from higher frequency, FLOPS, and number of pipelines.
Connectivity
The Snapdragon 8 Elite has an X80 5G modem with up to 10Gbps peak download speed and up to 3.5Gbps peak upload speed. Through Wi-Fi 7, the chip allows a maximum speed of 3.5Gbps. Qualcomm has equipped the chip with many enhancements for reliable and faster connectivity, such as Qualcomm 5G Ultra-Low Latency Suite, Qualcomm Power RF Efficiency Suite, Qualcomm RF Uplink Optimization, Qualcomm Smart Transmit Gen 5 technology, and Qualcomm 5G PowerSave Gen 5.
The Dimensity 9400 comes with a 5G advanced modem that offers a peak speed of 7Gbps, slightly lower than the other chip. It also supports Wi-Fi 7 with a peak speed of 7.3gbps, higher than the Snapdragon chip.
Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400: Conclusion
Both the Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400 are top-tier flagship chipsets, and the performance gap between them is narrower than ever. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite excels in CPU performance, multitasking, and overall responsiveness, making it ideal for power users and gamers who demand peak performance. On the other hand, MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 holds its own with higher GPU benchmarks and better thermal stability during sustained workloads, which is crucial for longer gaming sessions.
If you want the absolute best, the Snapdragon 8 Elite might be the better choice. But if you’re looking for a more balanced chip with solid GPU power and better-sustained performance under stress, the Dimensity 9400 is a compelling choice. In the end, both chipsets are incredibly powerful, and your decision may come down to other factors like device pricing, cooling system, software optimization, and brand preference.
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | Dimensity 9400 | |
|---|---|---|
| Announced | October 2024 | October 2024 |
| Process node | 3nm | 3nm |
| Manufacturer | TSMC | TSMC |
| CPU | 2 x 4.32GHz — Oryon 6 x 3.53GHz — Oryon | 1 x 3.63GHz — Cortex-X925 3 x 3.3GHz — Cortex-X4 4 x 2.4GHz — Cortex-A720 |
| GPU | Adreno 830 GPU Unreal Engine 5.3 running Nanite on smartphones Ray tacing support Snapdragon Elite Gaming features | Adreno 740 GPU Ray tacing support MediaTek Adaptive Gaming Technology 3.0 |
| NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon NPU Multimodal Gen AI support | MediaTek NPU 890 |
| Memory | LPDDR5x, up to 5.3GHz | LPDDR5x, up to 5.3GHz |
| Storage | UFS 4 | UFS 4 |
| Camera | Spectra triple 18-bit AI ISPs Up to 320MP single camera Limitless real-time semantic segmentation Up to 8K/30fps or 4K/120fps video recording | Imagiq 1090 ISP Up to 200MP single camera Up to 320MP single camera Up to 8K/60fp video recording |
| Connectivity | Downlink: 10Gbps Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 6.0 Ultra Wideband (UWB) support | Downlink: 7.3Gbps Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth 6.0 |
Snapdragon 8 Elite phones:
Dimensity 9400 phones:
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