Dimensity 9500 Debuts with Major AI, Gaming Gains to Rival Exynos 2600

MediaTek has officially announced the Dimensity 9500, its next-gen flagship smartphone chipset. The new processor brings massive gains across AI, CPU, and GPU performance compared to its predecessor, while also focusing heavily on efficiency. It goes head-to-head with the industry’s biggest names, including Samsung’s upcoming Exynos 2600 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, both of which are expected to feature in the Galaxy S26 series.

Dimensity 9500 keeps all-big-core CPU for more power

Built on TSMC’s 3nm (N3P) process, the Dimensity 9500 is MediaTek’s most ambitious entry yet in the flagship space. Like its predecessor, the new chip uses an “all big core” CPU configuration, this time based on Arm’s new Lumex architecture. The octa-core CPU setup includes one Arm C1-Ultra core clocked at 3.36GHz, three Arm C1-Premium cores at 3.3GHz, and four Arm C1-Pro cores at 2.4GHz. It boasts 10MB system-level cache (SLC).

MediaTek claims a 32% single-core and 17% multi-core uplift over the Dimensity 9400, with efficiency gains as high as 55% under peak load. Multitasking is said to be 30% more efficient, signaling a balance between raw power and sustainability. The integrated 12-core Arm Mali-G1 Ultra MC12 GPU comes with double the ray tracing units compared to last year, offering a staggering 112% jump in ray tracing performance.

According to the Taiwanese firm, the GPU can sustain 120fps gaming with ray tracing enabled, putting it closer to console-grade experiences. The Dimensity 9500 also supports 8K HDR video encoding/decoding, WQHD+ displays at 180Hz, and introduces optimizations for tri-folding devices via triple-port MIPI. It pairs with LPDDR5X RAM (10,667 MHz) and UFS 4.1 storage, ensuring lightning-fast app loading and multitasking.

The Imagiq 1190 ISP supports up to 320MP sensors, 8K 60fps HDR video recording, and advanced features like 4K HDR portrait video at 60fps. MediaTek is clearly preparing the Dimensity 9500 for premium-tier smartphones targeting both creators and gamers.

The chip is ready for the future of generative and agentic AI

The Dimensity 9500 integrates MediaTek’s NPU 990, which doubles AI performance over its predecessor. Using a compute-in-memory design, the NPU achieves 33% lower power consumption for large model workloads. The company claims support for 128K token LLMs, 4K image generation, and faster agentic AI tasks, making it a powerful chip for on-device generative AI.

For connectivity, this chip integrates Wi-Fi 7 (up to 7.3Gbps), Bluetooth 6.0, and an AI-optimized sub-6GHz 5G modem capable of 7.4Gbps downloads with lower latency. GPS and navigation also benefit from AI-assisted GNSS for 20% more accuracy. Oppo and Vivo are the first two firms to launch new phones with the DImensity 9500. More Android OEMs should adopt the chip in the coming months.

Samsung is unlikely to use this MediaTek processor in any of its Galaxy phones. The company will launch the Galaxy S26 series in early 2026, with the Exynos 2600 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipsets. The 3nm Qualcomm processor may power the Ultra model in most regions, while the 2nm Exynos could be the primary option for the S26 Edge and S26 Pro.