MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro vs. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5: Performance Comparison

The MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro was released roughly one generation later than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The difference is most noticeable in CPU benchmarks: the first Dimensity-based smartphones score around 4.2K points in Geekbench 6 Single-Core and more than 12.6K in Multi-Core.

Key Differences

The Dimensity 9600 Pro uses a 2+3+3 configuration without separate small efficiency cores. Two C2-Ultra cores run at up to 4.55 GHz, while another three C2-Pro cores reach up to 4.35 GHz. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is built around Qualcomm’s third-generation proprietary Oryon cores: two Prime cores and six Performance cores.

The Dimensity 9600 Pro supports LPDDR6 and UFS 5.0, while the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 supports LPDDR5X and UFS 4.1. However, specific smartphones may use older memory and storage standards, so the controller’s capabilities are not always fully reflected in benchmark results.

Geekbench 6 and AnTuTu 11 on Smartphones

Results for the same SoC vary considerably depending on cooling, power limits, memory, and the manufacturer’s settings.

Both Vivo models with the Dimensity 9600 Pro score around 4.2K points in Geekbench 6 Single-Core and 12.6K-12.7K in Multi-Core. The Xiaomi 17 and RedMagic 11 Pro, powered by the Snapdragon, score approximately 3.6K-3.7K and 10.8K-11.8K points, respectively.

The difference is especially noticeable in the single-threaded test. Even the actively cooled RedMagic 11 Pro posts a lower score than the first smartphones based on the Dimensity 9600 Pro.

The spread is greater in AnTuTu 11. In the available tests, the Vivo X500 Pro reaches approximately 5.0 million points, while the X500 Pro Max scores 4.84 million. The RedMagic 11 Pro scores around 4.12 million, and the Xiaomi 17 around 3.4 million.

AnTuTu is more heavily influenced than Geekbench by the GPU, memory, storage, and cooling, so this gap cannot be considered a pure difference in CPU performance. Fewer results are currently available for the new Vivo models than for Snapdragon-based models.

Graphics: G2-Ultra NX vs. Adreno 840

A direct GPU comparison is more difficult for now. Results from several production smartphones are already available for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, while the most complete available 3DMark result for the Dimensity 9600 Pro was obtained on a MediaTek engineering platform.

The G2-Ultra NX scores 9,245 points in Wild Life Extreme on the engineering platform. This result is higher than the available scores from production smartphones with the Adreno 840, including the RedMagic 11 Pro.

The engineering platform may use different power limits and more effective cooling, so its result cannot be directly compared with those of production smartphones.

The spread among Snapdragon results also demonstrates the impact of the specific device. The RedMagic 11 Pro scores around 8,140 points, the OnePlus 15 scores 7,370, and the Xiaomi 17 scores 5,976. With the same GPU, the difference between the fastest and slowest device exceeds 30%.

Conclusion

The Dimensity 9600 Pro clearly outperforms the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the first available Geekbench 6 and AnTuTu 11 results. Vivo smartphones powered by the Dimensity score around 4.2K points in Geekbench 6 Single-Core and more than 12.6K in Multi-Core, while Snapdragon-based devices score approximately 3.6K-3.7K and 10.8K-11.8K points, respectively.

The engineering platform with the G2-Ultra NX scores 9,245 points in Wild Life Extreme, but there are still not enough production smartphones based on the Dimensity 9600 Pro with comparable results.