The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and MediaTek Dimensity 9500 are the two new big flagship processors set to power some of the best Android flagships in 2026 – but what’s the difference between the two?
Both chips might be built on the same cutting-edge 3nm process for improved power and efficiency, but the two manufacturers take very different approaches when it comes to performance, gaming, AI and connectivity.
While we’re yet to benchmark any Snapdragon or Dimensity-equipped phones, here’s how the two top-end processors compare on paper.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 boasts higher CPU clock speeds
Over the past few generations, Qualcomm and MediaTek have diverged in their processor designs.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 boasts the company’s third-generation Oryon CPU architecture with two Prime cores clocked at 4.6GHz – the highest we’ve seen on a smartphone chip – alongside six performance cores.
The Dimensity 9500, on the other hand, goes all in on an ‘all big core’ Arm design, offering a maximum of 4.21GHz and utilising Arm’s latest Armv9.3 instruction set. That sounds complicated, but it essentially means that it should give the Dimensity chipset the edge in AI-focused tasks.
For sheer CPU horsepower, however, it seems that Snapdragon has the lead – though we’ll have to see how benchmark testing pans out once the flagship chipsets begin appearing in smartphones.
It’s safe to say that both chipsets are well-suited to high-end mobile gaming, but this year’s offerings take very different approaches.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 introduces Adreno High Performance Memory (HPM) that Qualcomm claims can help save power while still managing to keep gameplay smooth. It also fully supports Unreal Engine 5, which should make Unreal-powered games – of which there are many on Google Play – run even better on Snapdragon-powered hardware.
The Dimensity 9500’s Mali-G1 Ultra GPU, on the other hand, focuses more on high-end ray-tracing capabilities, with double the ray-tracing units and the ability to run 120fps ray-traced titles.
That’s a first for mobiles, and while it’ll take developers a while to adapt titles to run at such high frame rates, it could make MediaTek the more exciting prospect for high-end mobile gamers.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 offers better 5G
When it comes to 5G connectivity, Qualcomm maintains its lead over the MediaTek competition. This year’s 8 Elite Gen 5 and its X85 modem support peak download speeds of 12.5Gbps, while the Dimensity 9500 caps out at just 7.4Gbps.
Of course, you won’t see anything like these speeds in actual day-to-day use, but the Snapdragon’s faster modem – combined with Qualcomm’s long track record in mobile networking – makes it a strong choice for more reliable 5G connectivity.
Once again, while AI is a focus for both chipsets, the two differ significantly in terms of priorities.
The Dimensity 9500’s NPU 990 is the first on the market to feature compute-in-memory architecture, which essentially means that AI tasks will use less battery while still maintaining a high level of performance.
The Snapdragon’s Hexagon NPU, on the other hand, has focused more on bringing bigger models on-device to reduce the reliance on cloud-based AI processing. It does this using INT2 precision, which enhances on-device AI performance, but also increases the potential for accuracy issues as a result.
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 offers support for high-end video capture
If you’re a content creator, your priority should probably be a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-equipped device. The chipset is the first to feature support for the APV codec, which Qualcomm claims can deliver near-lossless video footage that can be colour graded and fine-tuned in post-production.
MediaTek’s new Imagiq 1190 ISP focuses more on frame rates, featuring support for 8K@60fps and 4K@120fps with stabilisation. There’s also support for 200MP cameras, but that’s more MediaTek playing catch-up – Qualcomm’s chips have offered that for quite some time.
Early thoughts
Choosing between the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and MediaTek Dimensity 9500 will likely come down to priorities. Qualcomm’s chip clearly leads in raw CPU performance, 5G connectivity and high-end video capture, making it the safer bet for those who want all-round flagship power.
The Dimensity 9500, on the other hand, offers support for truly high-end 120fps ray-traced gaming and more efficient AI.
In the end, it seems like Snapdragon offers the more complete package, but the latest Dimensity chip shows that MediaTek is no longer playing catch-up to Qualcomm.
