Mediatek Dimensity 9500 or SnapDragon 8 Elite on Android for running LLMs
Posted by datashri@reddit | LocalLLaMA | View on Reddit | 21 comments
I'm looking to get a new smartphone suited to playing with various LLMs and trying out new applications.
Some tests show the Mediatek Dimensity 9500 to significantly outperform the Snapdragon Elite. I wonder what's a better buying decision in Q4 2025.
Proud_Trade63@reddit
if your focus is llms, dimensity 9500 looks strong, mediatek npu 990 handles on-device AI efficiently.
KrishSaxena@reddit
The NPU 990 inside the mediatek dimensity 9500 makes local LLMs feel fast and truly usable, i would say mediatek is better in terms of ai capabilities and overall performance
TokenRingAI@reddit
The dimensity is way, way faster according to the specs I've seen
alhf94@reddit
Really? What data is that? Looking at Geekbench, the Snapdragon scored 10% higher on single-core and only like 20% higher on multi-core compared to the MediaTek 9500.
puneetjain1112@reddit
Geekbench isn’t everything, Mediatek d9500 delivers better sustained performance, thermals, and real world smoothness over raw benchmark spikes
TokenRingAI@reddit
https://ai-benchmark.com/ranking_processors.html
alhf94@reddit
Interesting. I found this post through a Google search regarding those two processors compared performance-wise, and I can see this post has a slant for how they perform in regards to AI.
No-Cattle4800@reddit
If LLMs are the game, NPU 990 is basically showing up like I brought a GPU, a brain, and less heat too... snapdragon might sprint, but mediatek dimensity just keeps generating tokens like it’s a low-power philosopher. for sustained AI work, Mediatek’s efficiency flex is kinda unfair now.
dhruv27batra@reddit
The NPU 990 in mediatek dimensity 9500 runs small AI models 100% quicker, so apps respond instantly, so, dimensity 9500 is much better
kabir544@reddit
just read about mediatek dimensity 9500 with npu 990, seems like focus is on running ai directly on device, which should make features faster and more reliable without depending on network
Prize_Pass1605@reddit
i would choose mtk dimnesity 9500 because it provides a cooler experience as compared to the snapdragon 8 elite, at least i can game easily without worrying about any heating issues.
Ok-Technology504@reddit
if your main goal is experimenting with local LLMs, mtk dimensity 9500 is more compelling. mediatek has been focusing heavily on NPU throughput and memory bandwidth for AI tasks... for transformer models, that can matter more than raw CPU power. it’s shaping up to be a strong option for on-device inference and AI apps
Electrical_Map_8913@reddit
from what i’ve seen, the mediatek dimensity 9500 actually handles heavy ai workloads pretty well. if you’re experimenting with llms on a phone, that extra ai compute could make a noticeable difference.
kabir544@reddit
in most comparisons i’ve seen, the mediatek dimensity 9500 maintains performance without throttling as fast. that’s a big deal for on device llms
datashri@reddit (OP)
Can you please share some of these comparisons...
Intelligent-Gift4519@reddit
By far 8 Elite. MTK doesn't have the software support. Apps like Layla, Paage and AnythingLLM are being developed for 8 Elite but not necessarily for MTK.
Major-Classic-1742@reddit
It depends really on what you want it for. For example you cannot run full screen linux apps on phones using any of the SD 8 elite processors as they wont be supported.
dampflokfreund@reddit
With SVE2 and compute in memory NPU the Mediathek would be faster if properly used.
Glittering-Call8746@reddit
Depends on support don't buy first..
datashri@reddit (OP)
8 Elite is already tested. 9500, let's wait/watch.
Commercial-Celery769@reddit
I want a phone with 32gb of ram that would be great