MediaTek has unveiled its Dimensity 9500, the company’s third-generation all-big-core chipset. The octa-core chip is built on a 3nm process and combines Arm’s latest C1-Ultra, C1-Premium, and C1-Pro cores, refining the “big-core only” concept first introduced with the Dimensity 9300.
Compared to its predecessor, the Dimensity 9500 brings a solid performance bump – peak efficiency is up 55%, and multi-core tasks run 16% faster. UFS 4.1 storage with four lanes ensures AI tasks and data handling are quicker and smoother than ever, as per Mediatek.
The Dimensity 9500 features a 9th-generation NPU 990 to handle all AI tasks, now twice as powerful and more efficient thanks to always-on “small models.” MediaTek says Android devices running the chip will be able to generate 4K images directly on-device, while low-bit support makes handling numerous small tasks easy, perfect for features like Gemini across Android.
Camera performance gets a boost, too. The chipset can handle sensors up to 200MP and offers NPU-assisted focusing, making high-resolution, AI-enhanced shots faster and sharper.
Performance jump comes in gaming and graphics too. The Arm G1-Ultra GPU in the Dimensity 9500 delivers higher peak performance and 119% faster hardware-accelerated ray tracing, putting 120fps gameplay within reach, though real-world results will tell the full story.
The first flagship phones from Vivo and Oppo with this chip are expected to arrive in Q4 2025.