Now, MediaTek has revealed the next-generation Dimensity 9500 chipset, which will compete against the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Here\u2019s what to expect from the new processor.<\/p>\n
Would you buy a Dimensity 9500 phone?<\/p>\n
298 votes<\/p>\n
Yes, absolutely<\/p>\n
41%<\/p>\n
Maybe, it depends on the phone price\/features<\/p>\n
36%<\/p>\n
No, I’d rather buy a Snapdragon phone<\/p>\n
23%<\/p>\n
Dimensity 9500 CPU<\/p>\n
![\"MediaTek](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MediaTek-Dimensity-9500-chip-layout-official-slide.jpg\"\/ "\\"MediaTek")
<\/p>\n
Hadlee Simons \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n
The Snapdragon 8 Elite<\/a> breached the 4GHz barrier last year, while the Dimensity 9400 Plus<\/a> topped out at 3.73GHz. This time, the Dimensity 9500 has broken through the 4GHz wall as well. Expect one Arm C1-Ultra core clocked at 4.21GHz, three C1-Premium cores running at 3.5GHz, and four C1-Pro cores running at 2.7GHz.<\/p>\n The company also pairs each CPU core with the same amount of cache as last time, which means 2MB of L2 cache for the biggest core, 1MB for each Premium core, and 512KB for the Pro cores. We\u2019ve still got 10MB of system-level cache this year, but MediaTek has hiked the L3 cache from 12MB to 16MB and doubled the L1 cache. Either way, you can expect 32% faster single-core performance and a more modest 16% multi-core gain. However, the company also says you can expect a 37% reduction in peak power usage and up to 55% lower power consumption for the Ultra core at peak performance. That\u2019s good news for demanding gaming sessions, video editing jobs, and similar tasks, but there\u2019s no word on power consumption improvements for less demanding use-cases.<\/p>\n The Dimensity 9500 CPU gets a major clock speed boost, as well as a key AI-related upgrade.<\/p>\n What\u2019s perhaps more notable is that the Dimensity 9500 CPU offers support for SME2. This is an optional set of instructions and hardware for Arm\u2019s latest CPU cores, which accelerate AI-based tasks. MediaTek says SME2 on its chipset results in 57% better object detection processing and 50% lower power consumption when running \u201cencoding\/decoding\u201d models. We\u2019ve asked MediaTek about other uses for SME2 on the Dimensity 9500 and will update the article when the company gets back to us.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Arm previously told us<\/a> that SME2 is already supported in a variety of AI frameworks, including its own Kleidi framework. So developers using these frameworks will automatically get a speed boost with these extensions. It\u2019s worth noting that the Dimensity 9500\u2019s NPU will still be the most powerful and efficient way to handle most AI tasks, but SME2 is nevertheless a handy addition for tasks that aren\u2019t necessarily optimized for AI silicon.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n The Dimensity 9500 also enjoys an upgraded GPU, as it gains Arm\u2019s Mali G1-Ultra MC12 graphics hardware. The company says this enables 33% better peak performance, 42% better power efficiency, and 119% better ray tracing performance. By contrast, last year\u2019s Dimensity 9400 offered up to 41% faster performance, up to 44% better power efficiency, and 40% better ray tracing than its predecessor. So the new chip isn\u2019t bringing the biggest general performance leap, but we\u2019re getting a giant upgrade for ray tracing and a broadly similar efficiency gain. The company also says we should expect more games with ray tracing later this year and in 2026.<\/p>\n MediaTek also claimed 120fps support in ray tracing, but the company didn\u2019t clarify which games this figure applied to. A press note further suggests that this frame rate is achieved by \u201cdouble frame rate interpolation,\u201d suggesting a native frame rate of 60fps or lower. Otherwise, the company touted support for Unreal Engine 5.5\/5.6 and Vulkan 1.4. The latter introduces Host Image Copy<\/a> tech, which transfers image data via the CPU instead of the GPU to reduce stuttering during texture streaming and improve loading times in games.<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500: What about AI and camera capabilities?<\/p>\n It wouldn\u2019t be a high-end smartphone processor without AI capabilities, and the Dimensity 9500 brings a few interesting improvements. The NPU 990 part offers a two-fold increase in performance, support for a 128,000 token window (versus 32,000 on the Dimensity 9400 and Tensor G5), and 4K image generation.<\/p>\n MediaTek adds that the NPU is divided into a \u201cperformance\u201d core and a \u201cflexible\u201d core. However, the company also offers a so-called \u201csuper-efficient\u201d NPU that\u2019s apparently the industry\u2019s first CIM-based (compute-in-memory) NPU. This is meant to permanently run small, low-power AI models on-device. The firm says you can expect power consumption to be reduced by 42% when running these small, low-power models via the super-efficient NPU.<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500Dimensity 9400Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n CPU Config<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500<\/p>\n 1x C1-Ultra @ 3.63GHz Dimensity 9400<\/p>\n 1x Cortex-X925 @ 3.63GHz Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n 1x Cortex-X4 @ 3.25GHz GPU<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500<\/p>\n Arm Mali-G1 Ultra Dimensity 9400<\/p>\n Arm Immortalis-G725 Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n Arm Immortalis-G720 Caches<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500<\/p>\n 16MB L3 Dimensity 9400<\/p>\n 12MB L3 Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n 8MB L3 AI<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500<\/p>\n NPU 990 Dimensity 9400<\/p>\n NPU 890 Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n APU 790 RAM support<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500<\/p>\n LPDDR5X @ 10,667Mbps<\/p>\n Dimensity 9400<\/p>\n LPDDR5X @ 10,667Mbps<\/p>\n Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n LPDDR5T @ 9600Mbps<\/p>\n Storage<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500<\/p>\n UFS 4.1 (four lanes)<\/p>\n Dimensity 9400<\/p>\n UFS 4.0 with MCQ<\/p>\n Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n UFS 4.0 with MCQ<\/p>\n 4G\/5G Modem<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500<\/p>\n LTE\/5G (integrated) Dimensity 9400<\/p>\n LTE\/5G (integrated) Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n LTE\/5G (integrated) Other networking<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500<\/p>\n Bluetooth 6 Dimensity 9400<\/p>\n Bluetooth 6 Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n Bluetooth 5.4 Process<\/p>\n Dimensity 9500<\/p>\n TSMC 3nm N3P<\/p>\n Dimensity 9400<\/p>\n TSMC 3nm N3P<\/p>\n Dimensity 9300<\/p>\n TSMC 4nm N4P<\/p>\n Finally, the Dimensity 9500 supports BitNet 1-bit for large model processing, specifically supporting absolutely tiny 1.58-bit models<\/a> on the NPU. MediaTek says this support means a 50% reduction in power consumption and reduced storage requirements for on-device AI processing.<\/p>\n Do you care more about the camera experience than AI capabilities? The Dimensity 9500 brings a few notable improvements in this regard. The company says it now offers RAW domain pre-processing, up to 200MP capture, and 4K\/60fps portrait video. MediaTek says you can also expect \u201cAndroid\u2019s first\u201d 4K\/120fps Dolby Vision video capture with electronic stabilization.<\/p>\n OPPO recently announced that its upcoming Find X9 Pro will offer 200MP multi-frame processing, suggesting that MediaTek\u2019s 200MP capabilities aren\u2019t just for snapshots. Vivo has also confirmed that its upcoming X300 series will support 4K\/60fps portrait video<\/a>, beating the iPhone 17 line\u2019s 4K\/30fps option. Both OPPO and vivo\u2019s upcoming handsets are set to be powered by the Dimensity 9500.<\/p>\n What else to know about the Dimensity 9500?<\/p>\n Other notable features include \u201cAndroid-first\u201d support for one-nit display brightness, UFS 4.1 four-lane support, 35% longer Bluetooth audio range, and AI enhancements to reduce 5G and Wi-Fi power consumption. The modem also supports 7.4Gbps downlink speeds, and apparently delivers 15% more bandwidth due to 5CC carrier aggregation.<\/p>\n MediaTek says flagship phones powered by the Dimensity 9500 will arrive in Q4 2025. OPPO and vivo have already started teasing the arrival of the X300 series and Find X9 series, respectively, in China. If it\u2019s anything like the X200 series and Find X8 range, then global launches will follow before the end of the year.<\/p>\n![\"MediaTek](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MediaTek-Dimensity-9500-AI-capabilities.jpg\"\/ "\\"MediaTek")
<\/p>\n
3x C1-Premium @ 3.3GHz
4x C1-Pro @ 2.4GHz<\/p>\n
3x Cortex-X4 @ 3.3GHz
4x Cortex-A720 @ 2.4GHz<\/p>\n
3x Cortex-X4 @ 2.85GHz
4x Cortex-A720 @ 2.0GHz<\/p>\n
12-core
Hardware ray-tracing<\/p>\n
12-core
Hardware ray-tracing<\/p>\n
12-core
Hardware ray-tracing<\/p>\n
10MB system-level cache<\/p>\n
10MB system-level cache<\/p>\n
10MB system-level cache<\/p>\n
Agentic AI Engine
(BitNet 1-bit support)<\/p>\n
Agentic AI Engine<\/p>\n
(added INT4 support and hardware compression)<\/p>\n
Sub6GHz and mmWave
7,400Mbps down (sub-6GHz)<\/p>\n
Sub6GHz and mmWave
7,000Mbps down (sub-6GHz)<\/p>\n
Sub6GHz and mmWave
7,000Mbps down<\/p>\n
Wi-Fi 7<\/p>\n
Wi-Fi 7<\/p>\n
Wi-Fi 7<\/p>\n![\"MediaTek](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/MediaTek-Dimensity-9500-summary.jpg\"\/ "\\"MediaTek")
<\/p>\n