Samsung Exynos 2400 vs MediaTek Dimensity 8500: Old Flagship or New Sub-Flagship

The Exynos 2400 and Dimensity 8500 are separated by two years and different market segments, but smartphones powered by these processors can cost roughly the same. On one side are the cheaper Galaxy S24 and S24+ or the newer S25 FE. On the other side are fresh POCO, HONOR, and Motorola devices equipped with large batteries, fast charging, and substantial memory.

Thus, the question is not solely about which processor wins in AnTuTu. The buyer is choosing between a last-generation flagship platform and a new sub-flagship that has already matched it in multi-threaded and raster graphical performance.

Why Compare These Processors

The Exynos 2400 was released as the flagship processor for the Galaxy S24 series. The Dimensity 8500 came later and is formally positioned a tier below. However, over two years, Galaxy prices have dropped, and Samsung has reused the Exynos 2400 in the Galaxy S25 FE. At the same time, models with the Dimensity 8500 have entered the same price range.

This creates a real choice: to buy a former flagship, a new FE, or a modern sub-flagship. The processor name matters less here than the smartphone's age, battery condition, memory capacity, and cooling quality.

When purchasing a used Galaxy, the battery condition may be more crucial than the differences in benchmarks. A new smartphone powered by Dimensity typically comes with a full warranty, a fresh battery, and more RAM. Conversely, a Galaxy offers better cameras, wireless charging, DeX, and long software support if those features are included in the specific model.

Is Dimensity 8500 Faster or Just Scoring Higher in AnTuTu

The Exynos 2400 utilizes Cortex-X4 at up to 3.21 GHz, five Cortex-A720 cores, and four efficient Cortex-A520 cores. The Dimensity 8500 is built on an All Big Core scheme: eight Cortex-A725 cores are divided into groups with frequencies of up to 3.4, 3.2, and 2.2 GHz.

MediaTek lacks a Cortex-X4 core, making Exynos faster in single-threaded tasks. However, the eight Cortex-A725 cores provide Dimensity with high aggregate performance.

Results are approximate and change with firmware, memory, temperature, and performance mode.

Exynos outperforms Dimensity by about 20-25% in single-core Geekbench scores. In multi-core performance, the processors are nearly equal, with differences between the mentioned devices falling within a few percentage points.

In AnTuTu 11, devices from the Dimensity 8500 family usually score around 2.19-2.22 million points, while Exynos 2400 scores approximately 2.0-2.1 million. However, AnTuTu combines CPU, GPU, memory, and interface speed. A higher score does not mean that the smartphone will be equally faster in every application.

Will the Difference Be Noticeable Every Day

The advantage of Exynos in single-core performance helps in browsing, handling short tasks, and apps that don't utilize multiple threads well. However, the difference in Geekbench does not directly translate into a faster interface. Factors such as storage, the Android scheduler, the UI, and background processes also affect app launches.

Both processors retain sufficient headroom for normal applications. A new smartphone powered by Dimensity 8500 may feel faster due to 12-16 GB of RAM and a fresh firmware, even if the processor itself is behind Exynos in single-core testing. The base Galaxy S24 is limited to 8 GB, which, when purchased for several years, already requires attention.

For a smartphone owner with an Exynos 2400, switching to the Dimensity 8500 will not represent a complete upgrade. Multi-core and graphical speeds will remain roughly at the same level, while single-core performance may decrease. Upgrading makes sense for the battery, memory, display, or cameras but not solely for the processor.

What is Better for Gaming

The peak raster performance of the processors is comparable. The POCO X8 Pro scores about 4310 points in Wild Life Extreme, outperforming the compact Galaxy S24 by around 10%. However, the Galaxy S24+ achieves 4250 points and nearly matches the POCO. The Motorola Edge 70 Pro with the same Dimensity 8500 is slower than both.

The stress test further emphasizes the influence of the device’s chassis. The POCO maintains about 74% of its initial score, while the thin Motorola drops to only 44%. The Galaxy exhibits a similar range: approximately 57% for the compact S24 and over 80% for the S24+.

Thus, one should not choose a gaming smartphone solely based on whether it has Dimensity 8500 or Exynos 2400. The POCO X8 Pro is more practical than the compact S24 for extended gaming sessions. However, the well-cooled Galaxy S24+ can outperform the thin model with the same MediaTek processor.

The Xclipse 940 holds a separate advantage with hardware ray tracing. The Galaxy S24 scores about 6650 points in Solar Bay, while devices with Mali-G720 MC8 achieve roughly 700. The gap is substantial, but the number of mobile games that benefit from useful ray tracing remains limited. For most buyers, stable frame rates matter more than Solar Bay results.

Why It Still Makes Sense to Pay for the Old Flagship

The Exynos 2400 supports recording 8K at 30 fps and 4K at 120 fps. The Dimensity 8500 caps at 4K at 60 fps. Samsung's modem works with 5G Release 17, Sub-6, mmWave, and NTN satellite communication. MediaTek is limited to Sub-6 and Release 16 but supports two active SIM cards simultaneously.

Most owners rarely shoot 8K video and may never utilize mmWave or NTN. These features indicate that the Exynos 2400 remains a more equipped platform, but they do not inherently make a specific Galaxy device more appealing.

Camera quality depends on sensors, optics, and processing. DeX, wireless charging, build protection, and update lifespan also pertain to the smartphone rather than the processor. These properties should be compared against the battery, charging speed, and memory capacity of the new Dimensity device.

What to Choose

When prices are equal, the decision depends on which smartphones are being compared:

• For gaming, the POCO X8 Pro is more rational than the compact Galaxy S24, boasting higher sustained performance, a larger battery, and faster charging.
• The Galaxy S24+ can sustain workloads better than the compact S24 and nearly matches the POCO in raster 3DMark. Here, Dimensity does not offer an automatic advantage.
• For cameras, DeX, wireless charging, and the Samsung ecosystem, the Galaxy is preferable if the price difference isn't too large.
• The condition of the battery, warranty, and remaining update lifespan become decisive between a used Galaxy and a new smartphone on Dimensity.
• Transitioning from Exynos 2400 to Dimensity 8500 for performance is unwarranted. This is a shift in priorities rather than a move to a higher class.

The Dimensity 8500 has caught up to the old Samsung flagship in multi-core and raster graphical speeds but has not surpassed it in every aspect. The Exynos 2400 is faster in single-core tasks and offers a more powerful video pipeline, modem, and ray tracing. When purchasing, one should not weigh two processor names against each other but rather the specific smartphones, as their cooling, batteries, and software support can significantly influence results more than the SoC's age.