MediaTek has officially introduced the Dimensity 9500, its most advanced mobile processor to date, positioned to compete directly with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The new chipset emphasizes higher performance, improved energy efficiency, advanced AI integration, and enhanced imaging capabilities. It is set to debut later in 2025 in flagship smartphones from OPPO and Vivo.
Performance and Efficiency
The Dimensity 9500 represents a major leap for MediaTek, becoming the first of its chipsets to surpass the 4 GHz barrier. It incorporates one Arm C1-Ultra core running at 4.21 GHz, three high-performance cores at 3.5 GHz, and four efficiency cores at 2.7 GHz. Benchmark gains include a 32% improvement in single-core performance and 16% in multi-core compared to its predecessor. Energy savings are also notable, with up to 37% reduction in peak consumption and 55% on the main core under heavy load. This results in longer gaming or video editing sessions without overheating or performance drops.
Imaging and Video
Photography and videography are key areas of focus. The Dimensity 9500 supports cameras of up to 200 MP and advanced video formats. Capabilities include 4K portrait video at 60 fps and the first Dolby Vision 4K/120 fps recording on Android with electronic stabilization. These improvements surpass the iPhone 17 Pro’s 4K/30 fps portrait mode. OPPO’s Find X9 Pro and Vivo’s X300 series are expected to highlight these professional-grade imaging and cinematic video enhancements.
Artificial Intelligence
The processor introduces SME2, a new instruction set that accelerates AI computations directly on the CPU, enabling 57% faster object detection and 50% less energy use for encoding/decoding models. The highlight is the NPU 990, now able to handle 128,000 tokens and generate 4K images. Its CIM-based design ensures 42% less energy use for smaller models. With BitNet 1-bit, the chip can manage large AI models with half the storage and power needs.
Graphics and Gaming
The Mali G1-Ultra MC12 GPU brings 33% better performance, 42% higher efficiency, and 119% enhanced ray tracing. The chipset supports 120 fps ray tracing (through interpolation) and is compatible with Unreal Engine 5.5/5.6 and Vulkan 1.4, promising smoother games, shorter loading, and stable frame rates.
Additional Features and Availability
Beyond raw performance, the Dimensity 9500 adds useful upgrades: 1 nit ultra-low screen brightness, UFS 4.1 storage (four lanes), Bluetooth with 35% better range, and 5G speeds up to 7.4 Gbps with more bandwidth.
The first smartphones with the Dimensity 9500 are expected in the fourth quarter of 2025, starting with OPPO and Vivo flagships. With this launch, MediaTek aims to rival Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 while excelling in efficiency, AI, and camera performance.
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