Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 has edged out MediaTek’s Dimensity 8500 Ultra in a head-to-head test that matters most to buyers: real-world speed, gaming stability, and wireless features. The numbers favor Snapdragon across the board, even though MediaTek comes in with a higher peak CPU clock and a faster listed 5G download speed.
That makes this less of a clean spec-sheet win than it first looks. MediaTek has clearly built a credible rival, but Qualcomm’s chip keeps the better balance of CPU, GPU, and connectivity extras that OEMs like to advertise when they want a phone to sound expensive without actually pricing it like one.
Benchmark scores favor Snapdragon 8s Gen 4
The Geekbench gap is the most telling: Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 scored 2,047 in single-core and 6,620 in multi-core, while the Dimensity 8500 Ultra posted 1,603 and 6,411. On AnTuTu v11, Snapdragon reached 2,326,902 points versus 2,110,684 for MediaTek, with stronger CPU and GPU sub-scores. In 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, Snapdragon also held better sustained performance and stability, which is the part gamers actually feel after the first few minutes of applause from the benchmark app.
CPU and GPU design explain the gap
Both chips are built on TSMC’s 4nm process and use eight cores, but they take different routes to get there. Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 uses a 1+3+2+2 layout with one Cortex-X4 prime core, while Dimensity 8500 Ultra uses a 1+3+4 setup based entirely on Cortex-A725 cores. MediaTek’s chip can hit 3.4GHz at the top end, but Qualcomm’s stronger prime core is doing the heavy lifting.
The same pattern shows up in graphics. Snapdragon’s Adreno 825, with ray tracing support and Snapdragon Elite Gaming features, beat the Mali-G720 MP8 in both performance and stability. MediaTek’s HyperEngine stack is no slouch and targets smooth 120 FPS gaming, but Qualcomm still looks better for long sessions where frame consistency matters more than marketing buzz.
- Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 Geekbench single-core: 2,047
- Dimensity 8500 Ultra Geekbench single-core: 1,603
- Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 AnTuTu v11: 2,326,902
- Dimensity 8500 Ultra AnTuTu v11: 2,110,684
- Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 Wild Life Extreme stress test stability: 79.24%
- Dimensity 8500 Ultra Wild Life Extreme stress test stability: 73.43%
Camera and connectivity separate the two chips
On imaging, Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 again brings the richer feature set: an 18-bit Triple AI ISP, up to 4K/60fps recording, and support for HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision. Dimensity 8500 Ultra counters with its Imagiq 1080 ISP, zero shutter lag, and 4K HDR video, so it is not short on ambition. Still, Qualcomm’s extra camera processing headroom is the safer bet for premium phones that want to do more than just tick a spec box.
Connectivity is more mixed. MediaTek advertises up to 5.17Gbps download speeds, ahead of Snapdragon’s 4.2Gbps figure, but Qualcomm pairs that with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0. Dimensity 8500 Ultra stops at Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4, which is fine today and a little less future-proof tomorrow.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 vs Dimensity 8500 Ultra for gaming phones
For now, Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 looks like the better all-round buy, especially for phones that lean on gaming and want stronger wireless specs on the box. The Dimensity 8500 Ultra is competitive and should pressure handset makers on price, but Qualcomm has the cleaner win where buyers tend to notice first: speed, stability, and features that sound expensive because they usually are.
The more interesting question is whether MediaTek’s next move comes from raw performance or from pricing. If the Dimensity 8500 Ultra lands in cheaper phones with better tuning, this fight could get a lot less one-sided very quickly.