Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 8 Elite last year, featuring Oryon cores for the first time in a mobile chipset. These are high-performance CPU cores that also offer excellent power efficiency. The Snapdragon 8 Elite quickly became favorite among high-end Android devices, but it continued to face fierce competition from MediaTek.
The Dimensity 9400 flagship lineup competes with Qualcomm’s top-tier chipsets, offering impressive performance and efficiency. The lineup recently got its newest member, Dimensity 9400e, which we will be comparing here with the Snapdragon 8 Elite to see how the two chips stack up against each other.
Let’s begin with the spec sheet:
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | Dimensity 9400e | |
|---|---|---|
| Announced | October 2024 | May 2025 |
| Manufacturing | 3nm (TSMC) | 4nm (TSMC) |
| CPU | 2 x 4.32GHz — Oryon 6 x 3.53GHz — Oryon | 1x 3.4 GHz — Cortex-X4 3x 2.85 GHz — Cortex-X4 4x 2 GHz — Cortex-A720 |
| GPU | Adreno 830 Ray tacing support Snapdragon Elite Gaming features | Mali-G720 Immortalis MP12 Ray tracing support MediaTek Adaptive Gaming Technology 2.0 |
| NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon NPU | MediaTek NPU 790 |
| Memory | LPDDR5X, up to 5.3GHz | LPDDR5X, up to 4.2GHz |
| Storage | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4.0 |
| Camera | Up to 320MP single camera Up to 8K video recording Limitless real-time semantic segmentation (up to 250 layers) | Up to 320MP single camera Up to 8K video recordin Real-time semantic segmentation |
| Connectivity | Download speed: 10 Gbps (peak) Wi-Fi 7 (peak speed: 5.8 Gbps) Bluetooth 6.0 | Download speed: 7 Gbps (peak) Wi-Fi 7 (peak speed: 7.3 Gbps) Bluetooth 6.0 |
Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400e: Benchmark comparison
Note: The tests were conducted on the Realme GT 7 Pro (Snapdragon 8 Elite) and Realme GT 7 (Dimensity 9400e).
AnTuTu score
The Snapdragon 8 Elite establishes a clear lead over the Dimensity 9400e on AnTuTu, scoring 2,745,602 against MediaTek’s 2,123,428 — a difference of nearly 29% in overall performance.
Qualcomm’s chip has the edge across all categories. The CPU score is about 15% higher, while the GPU shows a significant 35% boost. The Memory and UX scores also greatly favor the Snapdragon chip.
Here’s a detailed look at the breakdown:
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | Dimensity 9400e | |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu score | 2,745,602 | 2,123,428 |
| CPU | 578,305 | 502,983 |
| GPU | 1,157,741 | 855,871 |
| Memory | 569,580 | 402,991 |
| UX | 439,975 | 361,583 |
Geekbench score
On Geekbench 6, the Snapdragon 8 Elite once again shows a decisive lead over the Dimensity 9400e. It scores 3,122 in single-core and 9,507 in multi-core, while the Dimensity 9400e could only manage 2,208 and 7,310 in single-core and multi-core, respectively.
This translates to 41% better single-core performance and 30% better multi-core performance for the Snapdragon flagship.
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | Dimensity 9400e | |
| Single core | 3,122 | 2,208 |
| Multi core | 9,507 | 7,310 |
In terms of raw performance, the Snapdragon 8 Elite outperforms the Dimensity 9400e. However, it doesn’t provide the complete picture, including details about the manufacturing process, camera, and connectivity. So, let’s dive into the real-world differences to gain more clarity.
Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400e: Key differences that really matter
Performance and efficiency
Manufacturing:
Both the Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400e use TSMC’s manufacturing facility, yet they bring notable differences. The Snapdragon chip utilizes a newer and more advanced 3nm (N3E) process node, while the Dimensity chip is built using a 4nm node. This results in notable improvements in performance and efficiency for the Snapdragon chip.
CPU:
The CPU brings major changes. For the Snapdragon 8 Elite, Qualcomm didn’t go with ARM’s Cortex CPU, but instead, it developed its own Oryon cores. The 8 Elite features the 2nd-gen Oryon cores, which have higher clock speeds than the Cortex cores inside the Dimensity 9400e.
Here’s what the CPU cluster looks like:
Snapdragon 8 Elite
- 2 x Oryon (2nd-gen) at 4.32 GHz
- 6 x Oryon (2nd-gen) at 3.53 GHz
Dimensity 9400e
- 1 x Cortex-X4 at 3.4 GHz
- 3 x Cortex-X4 at 2.85 GHz
- 4 x Cortex-A720 at 2 GHz
The Snapdragon 8 Elite has more powerful CPU cores. Additionally, they operate at higher speeds, providing an extra performance boost.
GPU:
The Snapdragon 8 Elite features an Adreno 830 GPU, which is one of the most powerful and power-efficient GPUs for mobile chipsets. It features a new “sliced architecture,” which has helped the GPU achieve 40% enhanced performance and 40% improved efficiency over its predecessor.
Additionally, the 8 Elite supports hardware ray tracing, Unreal Engine 5.3 with Nanite virtualized geometry, and a full suite of Snapdragon Elite Gaming features for a better gaming experience.
The Dimensity 9400e, on the other hand, features a 12-core Immortalis-G720 GPU, which is capable of smoothly running high-end games. It also supports ray tracing capabilities and features MediaTek Adaptive Gaming Technology (MAGT 2.0), a suite of gaming optimizations.
The bottom line here is that the Snapdragon 8 Elite has a more powerful and power-efficient GPU.
NPU:
The Snapdragon chip features an improved hexagon NPU that delivers 45% better AI performance and 45% better performance per watt than its predecessor. It brings on-device personalization and multimodal support. The NPU also helps improve the photo quality, gaming, connectivity, and other areas on a device.
The Dimensity 9400e has MediaTek NPU 790 with generative AI capabilities and support for popular LLMs, such as Qwen 1.5B, Llama 7B, and Llama 8B, with on-device processing.
Memory and storage:
Both chipsets support fast UFS 4.0 storage and LPDDR5X RAM. However, there’s a slight difference. The RAM speed can go up to 5.3 GHz on the Snapdragon 8 Elite, while the Dimensity chip peaks at 4.2 GHz. This means faster app loading and slightly better performance for the Snapdragon chip.
Camera
Both chipsets support up to 320MP camera sensors and up to 8K video recording. The Snapdragon 8 Elite supports limitless real-time semantic segmentation for photos and videos with up to 250 layers. Additionally, it offers a range of camera features, including Truepic photo capture, Video super resolution, Multi-frame Noise Reduction (MFNR), and Bokeh Engine.
The Dimensity 9400e also supports semantic segmentation that automatically detects various scenes and objects and applies precise optimizations. It also supports AI-powered noise reduction, real-time AI processing for cinematic video capture and photo enhancements, and features triple microphones with high dynamic range and noise reduction.
Connectivity
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is equipped with an X80 5G modem, which offers up to 10 Gbps download speed and up to 3.5 Gbps upload speed. Over a Wi-Fi 7 connection, the maximum speed the chip can hit is 5.8 Gbps.
On the other hand, the Dimensity 9400e offers a maximum download speed of up to 7 Gbps on a 5G connection (sub-6GHz) and up to 7.3 Gbps on a Wi-Fi 7 connection. This means it has a higher speed on a Wi-Fi 7 connection but lower on a 5G connection than the 8 Elite.
Additionally, both chips offer a range of features to further enhance connection speed, power efficiency, and coverage.
Snapdragon 8 Elite vs Dimensity 9400e: Conclusion
The Dimensity 9400e is a capable high-end chipset, boasting impressive performance, strong AI capabilities, and competitive gaming capabilities. Its high-end CPU, powerful Immortalis-G720 GPU, and AI-driven optimizations make it a serious challenger in the premium segment. However, the Snapdragon 8 Elite remains the stronger all-rounder.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite is significantly ahead of the Dimensity 9400e in almost all aspects. Its newer 3nm process, custom Oryon CPU cores, and Adreno 830 GPU with sliced architecture give it a significant edge in both performance and efficiency. The benchmarks also greatly favor it over Dimensity 9400e.
In short, the Dimensity 9400e is an excellent alternative, but if you’re after the absolute best in performance, gaming, and efficiency, the Snapdragon 8 Elite is an absolute no-brainer pick.
Comments