MediaTek is shifting gears. After dominating mid-range SoC rankings, the company is now prepping two new chips aimed at the upper-mid & entry-flagship tiers: the Dimensity 9500e and Dimensity 8500. Reports suggest we’ll see the first phones equipped with these processors as early as January 2026.
Specs Snapshot
The 9500e is built on a 3 nm N3E process and features a high-end CPU layout: 1 × Cortex-X925 at 3.73 GHz, 3 × Cortex-X4, and 4 × Cortex-A720 cores. Its GPU is an Arm G925 MP12 clocked at 1.612 GHz.
The 8500 is pitched slightly lower-cost but still powerful. It uses a 4 nm process with an 8-core all-“big-core” arm architecture (no “LITTLE” cores). The prime core hits about 3.4 GHz and the GPU is a Mali-G720 around 1.5 GHz. AnTuTu scores are estimated around 2.2 million points.
What This Means For Smartphones
Phones with these chips will no longer be labelled simply “mid-range.” They’re targeting performance levels once reserved for flagships. Expect features like large batteries, high refresh displays, and strong cameras in models priced more accessibly.
Also, the timing is strategic. With flagship chips from competitors landing late 2025, MediaTek appears to be bringing strong hardware into more affordable phones in early 2026. Essentially: Get high performance sooner.
Why You Should Care
If you are shopping for a phone in the Php 20K-Php 30K range, these chips could redefine what “value flagship” means. Instead of sacrificing speed or camera quality, you might be getting near-flagship hardware at a lower price point.
For smartphone makers, these chips give them more room to add premium features without blowing up costs. For consumers, it means better tech is arriving faster and cheaper.
Which new MediaTek chip are you more excited about?
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