The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is a flagship-grade mobile processor with a high-end CPU configuration and a powerful Adreno GPU with ray tracing support and excellent gaming capabilities. What makes it more appealing is that phones with the 8s Gen 4 chip are available at a much more affordable price. However, there’s strong competition from MediaTek in the same segment.
The Dimensity 8500 Ultra, announced in early 2026, is one of the closest rivals to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. The chipset features an all-big-core CPU design with higher peak speed, competing GPU performance, and faster download speeds.
Let’s find out how these two processors stack up against each other and which one delivers better performance and value for the money.
| Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Dimensity 8500 Ultra | |
|---|---|---|
| Announced | April 2025 | Jan 2026 |
| Process node | 4nm (TSMC) | 4nm (TSMC) |
| CPU cores | 8-core | 8-core |
| CPU cores | 1 x 3.2GHz — Cortex-X4 3 x 3.0GHz — Cortex-A720 2 x 2.8GHz — Cortex-A720 2 x 2.02GHz — Cortex-A720 | 1 x 3.4 GHz — Cortex-A725 3 x 3.2 GHz — Cortex-A725 4 x 2.2 GHz — Cortex-A725 |
| GPU | Adreno 825 ray tracing support Snapdragon Elite Gaming features | Mali-G720 MP8 ray tracing support MediaTek HyperEngine Gaming Technology |
| NPU | Qualcomm Hexagon NPU | MediaTek NPU 880 |
| Memory | LPDDR5X up to 4.8GHz speed | LPDDR5X up to 4.8GHz speed |
| Storage | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4 + MCQ |
| Camera | Qualcomm Spectra ISP (Triple AI-ISPs, 18-bit) up to 320MP single camera up to 108MP single camera with zero shutter lag up to 36MP triple cameras with zero shutter lag real-time semantic segmentation (up to 250 layers) 4K/60fps video recording | MediaTek Imagiq 1080 ISP up to 320MP single camera up to 32MP triple cameras with zero shutter lag 4K/60fps video recording |
| Connectivity | Snapdragon X75 5G modem up to 4.2Gbps download speed Wi-Fi 7 (peak speed: 5.8Gbps) Bluetooth 6.0 | MediaTek 5G modem up to 5.17Gbps download speed Wi-Fi 6E Bluetooth 5.4 |
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Dimensity 8500 Ultra: Benchmark score
Note: The benchmark tests were performed on the POCO F7 (powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4) and the POCO X8 Pro (powered by the Dimensity 8500 Ultra).
Geekbench performance
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 delivers 27% higher single-core performance despite a lower peak clock speed. That’s because the prime Cortex-X4 core in the 8s Gen 4 is more powerful than the Cortex-A725 in the Dimensity 8500 Ultra.
The difference in multi-core scores isn’t big, though. The Snapdragon chip still has the upper hand, but the score is only 3% higher than the Dimensity 8500 Ultra’s.
| Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Dimensity 8500 Ultra | |
| Single core | 2,047 | 1,603 |
| Multi core | 6,620 | 6,411 |
AnTuTu performance
On the AnTuTu v11 benchmark, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 pulls off 2.32 million AnTuTu points, while the Dimensity 8500 Ultra remains behind with 2.11 million points. This number suggests better overall performance for the Snapdragon chip, but the picture becomes clear when you look at the individual scores for each test.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 leads the CPU performance with a 13% higher score, while the GPU difference is even bigger. The Snapdragon chip also performs better in the GPU test with a whopping 23% higher score.
| Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Dimensity 8500 Ultra | |
| AnTuTu score | 2,326,902 | 2,110,684 |
| CPU | 682,606 | 601,843 |
| GPU | 811,300 | 655,088 |
| Memory | 374,937 | 370,749 |
| UX | 458,059 | 483,004 |
3DMark performance
Wild Life Extreme Stress Test
This test specifically measures the gaming performance of a device under heavy workload, where the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 maintains an edge over the Dimensity 8500 Ultra. The high score is up 7%, and the low score is up 15%. The Snapdragon chip also has better gaming stability.
| Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 | Dimensity 8500 Ultra | |
| High score | 4,470 | 4162 |
| Low score | 3,542 | 3056 |
| Stability | 79.24% | 73.43% |
All benchmark tests we looked at so far tell the same thing: the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 offers superior performance and gaming stability compared to the Dimensity 8500 Ultra. But that should not be the only factor to consider when deciding on a chip upgrade.
You should also look at the other important aspects, such as the camera and connectivity, detailed below.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Dimensity 8500 Ultra: Key differences that matter
Performance
CPU
While both chips have octa-core CPUs with the same ARMv9.2-A instruction set, their core structures vary. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 has a ‘1+3+2+2’ layout, featuring one Cortex-X4 core. The remaining seven are Cortex-A720 cores with varying clock speeds.
In contrast, the Dimensity 8500 Ultra uses a ‘1+3+4’ layout. All of them are Cortex-A725 cores, but their peak speeds vary to ensure a good balance between performance and efficiency.
The Dimensity chip benefits from a higher peak clock speed (3.4GHz vs 3.21GHz), but the inclusion of a more powerful Cortex-X4 prime core in the Snapdragon chip makes an even greater impact.
GPU
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 has the Adreno 825 GPU, which offers better performance and stability than the Dimensity 8500 Ultra’s Mali-G720 GPU.
In addition to the advanced Adreno GPU, the Snapdragon chip utilizes Qualcomm’s sliced GPU architecture and Snapdragon Elite Gaming features, including Qualcomm Adaptive Performance Engine and Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.0 to deliver smooth, high-performance gaming sessions while significantly enhancing power efficiency.
The Dimensity 8500 Ultra features MediaTek HyperEngine technology, promising smooth gaming at 120 FPS and smart power efficiency.
While both chips deliver solid gaming performance, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 has an edge in gaming stability and smoother performance during longer gaming sessions.
NPU
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 has a hexagon NPU with 2x larger shared memory and 44% faster AI performance than its predecessor. It supports a variety of Large Language Models (LLMs) and Large Vision Models (LVMs), offering greater privacy with on-device processing.
The Dimensity chip also has a powerful MediaTek NPU 880 AI system with diffusion transformer support and NeuroPilot compression technology. It can also run various LLMs and LVMs on-device.
Camera
While the camera output on a device mostly depends on OEM’s implementation, like the sensors being used and software tuning before the final output, the chipset’s ISP capabilities also play a crucial role. The ISP is the hardware that converts raw light data from the sensor into a digital image in real time and determines if a phone can shoot in 4K, 8K, or slow motion.
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 features an 18-bit Triple AI ISP with support for real-time semantic segmentation (up to 250 layers), real-time skin and sky tone correction, and low-light capture. The chip supports up to 4K video recording at 60FPS and various HDR formats (HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision).
The Dimensity 8500 Ultra is equipped with an Imagiq 1080 ISP with AI-powered Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL) photos, 4K HDR video recording, and semantic segmentation.
Connectivity
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 has an integrated X75 5G modem with a peak download speed of 4.2Gbps. The Dimensity 8500 Ultra extends this to 5.17Gbps. Still, the 8s Gen 4 is the superior choice, as it supports advanced features like Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0, whereas the Dimensity 8500 Ultra supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Dimensity 8500 Ultra: Which is a better choice?
The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 is the clear winner here. It outperforms the Dimensity 8500 Ultra across every benchmark we tested. The chip did particularly well in the single-core test on Geekbench. Furthermore, 3DMark stress testing highlights that the Snapdragon’s Adreno 825 GPU delivers better stability and sustained frame rates during extended gaming sessions.
While both chipsets offer robust on-device AI and advanced ISPs, the Snapdragon offers future-proof Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity, making it a superior choice overall compared to the Dimensity 8500 Ultra.
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