These days, there’s plenty of competition among smartphones, but also the chipsets that power them.
On most Android phones, MediaTek and Qualcomm go head-to-head. The Dimensity 9300 has proven to be a worthy Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 rival, delivering top-tier performance on flagship devices.
But the chip market moves fast, so MediaTek will continue to innovate. With Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 expected later this year, how will the company respond?
With the Dimensity 9400, that’s how. And early signs are very promising – here’s everything you need to know.
When will the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 launch?
MediaTek tends to release a major new flagship chip towards the end of each year:
- Dimensity 9000 – Q4 2021
- Dimensity 9200 – Q4 2022
- Dimensity 9300 – Q4 2023
With that in mind, the Dimensity 9400 is likely to arrive sometime in Q4, so October-December 2024.
A report from Chinese media also suggests a Q4 2024 release, though a more specific launch date is yet to be revealed.
Which phones will use the MediaTek Dimensity 9400?
There haven’t been any confirmation regarding which phones will be getting the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 at this stage.
However, looking back at the Dimensity 9300, Vivo or Oppo flagships are among those to expected to lead the pack as the first major releases.
Naturally, it will take some time for phones with the new chipset to become available. You can expect to see some notable Dimensity 9400 phones arrive within 1-2 months of the chipset itself launching.
What will the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 specs and features be?
The Dimensity 9400 isn’t due to be released for a while, but we already have a decent idea of what to expect.
TSMC’s 3nm process
MediaTek has already announced plans for the Dimensity 9400 to mark its first venture onto TSMC’s 3nm node (N3E), a step up from the older 4nm node used for the Dimensity 9300.
This should deliver a noticeable boost to performance, but the specifics are yet to be revealed.
NPU & AI
MediaTek’s CEO, Cai Lixing, has emphasised the achievements of the Dimensity 9300 in an interview with Chinese media. He expressed confidence in the growing trend of AI-enabled mobile phones.
While MediaTek did not explicitly name the chip as the Dimensity 9400, according to the provided chart, it’s anticipated that it will boast an improved NPU (Neural Processing Unit), offering a 20%-50% increase in performance for tasks such as generating AI content from LLMs (Large Language Models).
Additionally, it’s expected to deliver a 15% boost in image generation speed with version 1.5 of the Stable Diffusion model.
New Cortex core CPU
Although the CPU configuration of the Dimensity 9400 hasn’t been officially confirmed, early rumours provide some insights. It’s speculated that the high-performance core will feature a new Cortex-X5 (which has yet to be officially announced).
According to FoneArena, it will use a new Cortex-X5 Prime CPU that MediaTek is yet to announce, replacing the Cortex-X4 found in the Dimensity 9300. The middle and bottom cores are expected to remain the same, consisting of three Cortex-X4 and four low-power Cortex-A720.
And some insights into the Dimensity 9400’s CPU performance have emerged. Geekbench 6 was employed for these tests, revealing a score of 2700 points in the single-core test and 9800 points in the multi-core benchmark.
However, another leaks suggested that the chip scored 2776 and 11739 points in Geekbench 6.1, a slightly never version. Even so, it’s a significant improvement compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 in the same test:
In AnTuTu (version 10), another popular benchmark for testing smartphone performance, the Dimensity 9400 reportedly achieved a score of 34,49,366 points, surpassing the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which scored 31,33,570 points.
Upgraded Immortalis GPU
According to popular tipster Digital Chat Station, MediaTek is set to include a new Immortalis G9 GPU within in the Dimensity 9400 chip. Its full name isn’t yet known, but it looks set to be an upgrade compared to the Immortalis G720 found in the Dimensity 9300.
The report above suggests that the Dimensity 9400 is able to achieve 110fps in the Aztec test, which is 11fps more than its predecessor.
However, it’s worth noting that early test results may not accurately reflect the actual performance of the new chip. The benchmark itself may not fully support the new chip’s capabilities yet.
Nvidia partnership
In 2023, a report from Asian tech site DigiTimes suggested that MediaTek has collaborated with Nvidia to develop a chipset featuring a GeForce GPU instead of the usual ARM-based Mali and Immortalis ones.
This partnership sets the stage for an intriguing competition against Samsung’s Exynos 2500 (which we may see in the upcoming Galaxy S25 series), which reportedly will incorporate just one Cortex-X5 (alongside Cortex-A730 and A520 forming the remainder of the CPU) and an AMD-based GPU.
That’s all we know so far. If you’re in the market for a new phone, consider our current recommendations for the best phones available.
Additionally, keep an eye out for the best upcoming phones, as some of them will likely use the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
