Can MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 Match A19 Pro in Single & Multi-Core Performance? The Truth Revealed

The recent announcement of the Dimensity 9500, produced utilizing TSMC’s advanced third-generation 3nm process, positions it as a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the Dimensity 9400. However, an intriguing question arises: how does this new chipset compare with the state-of-the-art A19 Pro? This comparison will provide insight into the competitive landscape of mobile chipsets.

Performance Analysis: Dimensity 9500 vs. A19 Pro in Laboratory Settings

At the launch event, MediaTek touted the impressive benchmarks achieved by the Dimensity 9500 in Geekbench 6, highlighting single-core and multi-core performance that is purportedly up to 32% better than its predecessor. Notably, the Dimensity 9500 marks the first occasion where an Android chipset has surpassed the 4, 000 point threshold in single-core tests, a record previously held by the A19 Pro, which currently stands as the fastest SoC on the market and excels in ‘performance per watt’ efficiency.

It’s important to clarify a key distinction that may have gone unnoticed amid the excitement created by the Dimensity 9500’s announcements. The remarkable benchmark scores for MediaTek’s new chipset were achieved in a controlled laboratory environment. Such conditions are carefully optimized to serve the capabilities of the chipset and are not necessarily indicative of real-world performance. For instance, the performance of a retail smartphone equipped with the Dimensity 9500 in average usage conditions, such as a warm and humid environment, cannot be expected to yield identical results. This raises questions regarding its overall viability compared to the A19 Pro, which has undergone extensive real-world testing by reviewers like Geekerwan.

For those interested in the specifics, here’s a concise comparison of their respective Geekbench 6 scores:

A19 Pro Geekbench 6 Results:

Single-core: 4, 019
Multi-core: 11, 054

Dimensity 9500 Geekbench 6 Results (Lab Environment):

Single-core: 4, 007
Multi-core: 11, 217

MediaTek's Dimensity 9500 cannot compete with the A19 Pro — Observations made via Google Lens reveal that the Dimensity 9500 was tested under ideal conditions to achieve these high scores.

Additionally, our earlier benchmarks indicated that the Dimensity 9400 had a high power consumption of 18.4W to obtain results that were deemed acceptable. The A19 Pro, in contrast, achieved its impressive results while consuming only 12.1W, highlighting its superior efficiency. Given that the Dimensity 9500 does not utilize in-house cores, it may struggle with efficiency, potentially leading to disappointing real-world performance compared to the A19 Pro.

In the tech landscape, it is common for manufacturers to elevate their products through marketing. MediaTek’s transparency regarding the testing conditions for the Dimensity 9500 is commendable and helps manage public expectations. However, the journey to compete head-to-head with leading chips seems to still have some distance to travel for MediaTek. As we look forward to further developments, many wonder if the company will consider integrating custom cores into future products—only time will reveal the answer.

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