MediaTek unveiled the powerful Dimensity 9500s. Cheaper flagships will get it, relying on big cores and a large cache.

Taiwanese chip manufacturer MediaTek has expanded its flagship lineup with a new processor, the Dimensity 9500s. This is a lighter variant of last year’s Dimensity 9500, designed to directly compete with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset – which, in turn, is a trimmed-down version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 Elite. Both manufacturers are thus targeting premium segment smartphones that will offer near-flagship features.

Only Big Cores and Huge Cache

The Dimensity 9500s utilizes TSMC’s second-generation 3nm manufacturing process, which delivers high performance while maintaining reasonable power consumption. The octa-core processor relies on the All Big Core architecture, meaning it uses only “big” powerful cores – you won’t find any power-efficient “small” cores here.

The configuration includes one ultra-powerful Arm Cortex-X925 core clocked at 3.73 GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores, and four Cortex-A720 cores. Additionally, MediaTek adds a 19MB L3 cache and another 10 MB of system cache, which, according to the manufacturer, is the most in its class. The memory subsystem supports LPDDR5X with speeds up to 9,600 Mbps and UFS 4.0 storage.

Graphics with Ray Tracing and Gaming Optimization

Graphics performance is handled by Arm’s Immortalis-G925 GPU, which supports hardware ray tracing. MediaTek mentions Opacity Micromap (OMM) technology, designed to accelerate the rendering of reflections and shadows. The chipset also includes Adaptive Gaming Technology 3.0 and Frame Rate Converter 3.0, which are intended to optimize power consumption when playing games at 120 FPS.

The chipset can power displays up to WQHD+ resolution at 180 Hz, and also supports a triple MIPI interface for foldable phones with multiple panels.

Connectivity and Photographic Capabilities

In terms of connectivity, the Dimensity 9500s offers a 5G Release-17 modem with 4CC-CA support and download speeds up to 7 Gbps. It also features Wi-Fi 7 with throughput up to 6.5 Gbps and an interesting Bluetooth function – direct connection between two phones can, according to MediaTek, work up to a distance of 5 kilometers without the need for a mobile signal.

MediaTek unveiled the powerful Dimensity 9500s. Cheaper flagships will get it, relying on big cores and a large cache. Adam Kurfürst News Adam Kurfürst News

The Imagiq image processor can handle 8K video recording in Dolby Vision at 60 frames per second. It supports sensors with resolutions up to 320 Mpx or simultaneous operation with three 36Mpx sensors.

Xiaomi Redmi Turbo 5 Max as the First Phone?

Xiaomi has already confirmed on social media that its upcoming smartphone, the Redmi Turbo 5 Max, will utilize the new chipset. According to leaked information, the phone achieved an AnTuTu benchmark score of 3.61 million points.

Dimensity 8500 Also Introduced

Along with the Dimensity 9500s, MediaTek also introduced the Dimensity 8500 for the premium mid-range segment. It utilizes a 4nm process and eight Cortex-A725 cores clocked up to 3.4 GHz. Graphics are handled by the Mali-G720, which is expected to offer 25% higher performance with 20% lower power consumption compared to its predecessor.

What do you think of MediaTek’s new chipsets?

Sources: MediaTek (1, 2, 3), ITHome