MediaTek Ready To Crash Early 2026 With Dimensity 9500e And 8500 Chips: Flagship Performance At Sub-Flagship Prices

Dimensity 9500e will be released by major Chinese brands such as Oppo, Vivo, Redmi, and iQOO (photo; x @teknodiot ·)

JAKARTA - Competition in the world of smartphone chipsets will get hotter in early 2026. After the dominance of Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 in the flagship segment, MediaTek is preparing to launch two new processors aimed at sub-flagship classes: Dimensity 9500e and Dimensity 8500. These two chips are said to be the spearhead of MediaTek in facing Qualcomm in the global market.

According to leaked from the well-known Digital Chat Station tips on the Weibo platform, the first smartphones to use both chips will be launched starting January 2026. This information seems to confirm MediaTek's strategy to take advantage of the post-release flagship time lag to dominate the upper middle segment.

Dimensity 9500e is referred to as the most premium variant of this new chip duo. The chip is built with the TSMC's 3nm N3E manufacturing process, known for its high power efficiency and outstanding performance. Its CPU uses the 1\times Cortex-X925, 3\times Cortex-X4, and 4\times Cortex-A720 configurations, with a maximum speed of up to 3.73GHz making it one of the fastest chips in its class.

The GPU used is Arm G925 MP12 which operates at 1612MHz, providing flagship class graphic support for heavy gaming and AI-based visual processing. This combination places Dimensity 9500e as a strong candidate for premium smartphones that prioritize high performance with optimal battery life.

Different from his brother, Dimensity 8500 is intended for smartphones that are more affordable but still powered. This chip is built with a 4nm TSMC process and uses the ARM A725 architecture completely, which means all eight of its cores are "big cores" without traditional power-efficient cores.

The main Core has speeds of up to 3.4GHz, slightly higher than its predecessor, Dimensity 8400. As for the GPU, MediaTek chose Mali-G720 at a speed of around 1.5GHz. According to reports, this chip was able to score around 2.2 million points on the AnTuTu Benchmark high enough performance for the premium mid-range category.

This MediaTek move comes as Qualcomm prepares to introduce the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5. However, MediaTek seems to take a different path: focus on more competitive efficiency and price, without compromising performance. With TSMC's mature 3nm and 4nm processes, MediaTek has the potential to provide flagship-class performance on devices at a more friendly price.

In addition, these two chips are also said to support direct-generative AI technology on devices (on-device AI), multi-band 5G connectivity, as well as a new HDR-capable camera system and neural engine-based image processing.

The first series of smartphones with Dimensity 9500e and 8500 are expected to be released by major Chinese brands such as Oppo, Vivo, Redmi, and iQOO. Some of them are rumored to have entered the production test phase. If true, then the first quarter of 2026 will be an important momentum for MediaTek to strengthen its grip on the Asian market.

With promising performance and increasingly mature power efficiency, MediaTek now seems more prepared than ever to compete directly with Snapdragon not only in price classes, but also in terms of technology and user experience.

In an increasingly competitive industrial context, the presence of Dimensity 9500e and 8500 could not be just a launch of a new chip, but also a strong statement that MediaTek is no longer an alternative choice but a true competitor at the top of the global smartphone food chain.