Dimensity 8500 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

The Dimensity 8500 is an upper mid-range chip from MediaTek, and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is a flagship chip from Qualcomm. In Geekbench 6, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is 4% faster in multi-core (6,750 vs 6,520) and 36% faster in single-core. In 3DMark Steel Nomad Light, a graphics test, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scores 14% higher (1,642 vs 1,443).

MediaTek Upper mid-range

Dimensity 8500

#27 of 102 chipsets · 3 phones

Qualcomm Flagship

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

#25 of 102 chipsets · 21 phones

Benchmarks head to head

Full chipset ranking

Multi-core Geekbench 6

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 +4%
Dimensity 8500 6,520
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 6,750

Single-core Geekbench 6

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 +36%
Dimensity 8500 1,620
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 2,200

Graphics 3DMark Steel Nomad Light

Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 +14%
Dimensity 8500 1,443
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 1,642

Higher is better. Bars are relative to the faster chip in each test. A dash means we don’t have a reliable result for that chip yet.

Key facts

Specs from the chip makers. The better result in each benchmark is highlighted.

Dimensity 8500Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
Maker MediaTek Qualcomm
Class Upper mid-range Flagship
Announced Jan 2026 Oct 2023
Process 4 nm TSMC 4 nm TSMC
CPU 8 cores 1× 3.4 GHz + 3× 3.2 GHz + 4× 2.2 GHz 8 cores 1× 3.3 GHz + 3× 3.2 GHz + 2× 3.0 GHz + 2× 2.3 GHz
Max CPU speed 3.4 GHz 3.3 GHz
GPU Mali-G720 MC8 Adreno 750
5G modem Built-in 5G Built-in 5G
Place in our ranking #27 of 102 #25 of 102 (better)
Geekbench 6 single-core 1,620 2,200 (better)
Geekbench 6 multi-core 6,520 6,750 (better)
Graphics (3DMark Steel Nomad Light) 1,443 1,642 (better)
Phones in our database 3 phones 21 phones
Best-rated phone Motorola Edge 70 Pro 8.2 Xiaomi 14 Ultra 8.5
Lowest US launch price — $549 REDMAGIC 10 Air
Newest phone Xiaomi 17T May 2026 vivo X Fold5 Jun 2025

Phones with the Dimensity 8500

3 phones in our database, best rated first.

Phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

21 phones in our database, best rated first.

See all 21 phones
Compare the Motorola Edge 70 Pro and Xiaomi 14 Ultra All about the Dimensity 8500 All about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3

Dimensity 8500 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 3: FAQ

Which is faster, the Dimensity 8500 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3?

In Geekbench 6, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is 4% faster in multi-core (6,750 vs 6,520) and 36% faster in single-core. In 3DMark Steel Nomad Light, a graphics test, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scores 14% higher (1,642 vs 1,443). Real-world speed also depends on how well each phone keeps the chip cool and on its software.

Is the Dimensity 8500 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 better for gaming?

3DMark Steel Nomad Light measures graphics performance, which matters most for games. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 scores 14% higher than the Dimensity 8500 (1,642 vs 1,443). Cooling, screen refresh rate and game support also make a difference, so check the phones themselves.

Which is newer, the Dimensity 8500 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3?

The Dimensity 8500 is newer: it was announced in January 2026, while the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 was announced in October 2023.

Which phones use the Dimensity 8500 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3?

The Dimensity 8500 powers 3 phones in our database, including the Motorola Edge 70 Pro, Xiaomi 17T and POCO X8 Pro. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powers 21 phones in our database, including the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, HONOR 400 Pro and vivo X Fold5. The lowest US launch price with this chip is $549, for the REDMAGIC 10 Air.

Where do these benchmark scores come from?

They are reference results for each chip: the median of several Geekbench 6 runs on retail phones. The 3DMark Steel Nomad Light graphics score is the median of the results for retail phones with the chip in the official ranking of UL, the maker of 3DMark. The same chip can score a little differently from phone to phone, depending on cooling, clock speeds and software.

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