Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 vs Dimensity 9500: Performance gap narrows

Outside of Samsung, it’s not often that two identical flagship phones launch with completely different silicon, but with the Find X9 Pro and X9 Ultra, we have a rare opportunity for an interesting benchmark comparison. With the Ultra powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500, this is about as close as we get to a similar chipset showdown.

Since both devices share similar specs, cooling approaches, and software optimizations, this comparison removes many of the common variables and puts the spotlight squarely on the silicon. This gives us a rare chance to see how Qualcomm and MediaTek’s top-tier 2026 processors really stack up, when everything else is (mostly) held equal.

It’s worth noting that the Pro’s screen resolution is 1,272×2,772, while the Ultra’s is 1,440×3,168. However, in 3DMark’s graphics tests we’ll use render at a fixed resolution (usually 2560×1440) and simply scale to fit, so different displays won’t impact performance. I also have 16GB of RAM in the X9 Pro, but just 12GB in the Ultra. Again, the benchmarks we’re running don’t come close to maxing it out, so it won’t affect the results here.

The most important factor here is that we have two phones whose performance and battery optimization should be very similar, if not identical, yet they run two different chips. So let’s see what our usual benchmarks say.

Snapdragon vs Dimensity 2026 Edition

Starting from the CPU tests through Geekbench 6, we can see that Qualcomm’s custom Orion CPU cores continue to lead the Arm C1-Ultra and C1-Pro. This gives the Find Multi-core is similar, with a 13.1% win for the Snapdragon, which can translate into an almost tangible advantage when the phone is working hard on multiple or multi-threaded tasks.

This advantage translates into PC Mark’s Work 3.0 tasks, which test performance in simulated video editing, document compression, and other common tasks. Once again, the Snapdragon is ahead here by 14.8%, also proving that more RAM does not translate into more performance in these work-related benchmarks.

The results reverse somewhat when we move to graphics. Arm’s G1-Ultra GPU has made solid gains this year and actually now outperforms Qualcomm’s Adreno 840 in the single-run 3DMark tests I ran. MediaTek’s chip won the Wildlife Extreme test by 5.9% and won the ray-tracing-based Solar Bay test by more than 13.3%. That latter result points to a nice edge for Arm, although ray tracing remains a staple in mobile games. In most Android games, performance between these two chips is likely to be very, very close.

Unfortunately, the Find X9 Pro doesn’t maintain this performance advantage for very long. It only takes a few runs/minutes for the Ultra to take the lead, and it holds a reasonable advantage for about half the stress tests. In the second half, both phones are throttled quite rapidly, with results being up-and-down as performance is cut back to allow them to cool. The behavior is fairly similar on both models, although the Ultra is a bit more erratic.

However, you’ll notice that the Find This results in a much warmer handset with the Ultra. Given that both end up with very similar performance levels by the end of the stress tests, I’d argue that the MediaTek chip is doing a better job at balancing that, and will definitely be more comfortable to hold during those long gaming sessions.

In case you’re wondering, the Oppo Find X9 Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 implementation sits right in the middle of the pack among other 2026 flagships that use the same chip.

While it lags a few percentage points behind the overclocked Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for the Galaxy in the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, it performs slightly better than the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and OnePlus 15. Based on these results, MediaTek’s flagship chip is close to Qualcomm’s higher-clocked models in graphics and even beats it in ray tracing performance. This is undoubtedly good news for gamers looking for more options in hardware.

Ultimately, this head-to-head highlights just how competitive the flagship chipset space is set to become in 2026. Qualcomm still holds a measurable lead in CPU performance, but MediaTek has narrowed the gap significantly by leading the way in areas like GPU efficiency and thermals.

For most users, it will be hard to notice these differences in day-to-day use, and perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway: both chips offer more performance than a modern smartphone realistically requires. Instead of a clear winner, what we’re seeing is a shift toward parity — and that’s great news for consumers. Whether you opt for the Snapdragon-powered Ultra or the Dimensity-equipped Pro, you’re getting a top-tier experience with very few compromises either way.

Still, at the peak of performance, Qualcomm’s custom Orion CPU cores hold the edge over Arm’s latest in-house cores. This remains a differentiating factor in bridging the gap between mobile and laptop performance. However, with very few CPU-bound smartphone tasks, it’s not entirely clear how big this lead is, especially as AI tasks are increasingly offloaded to NPUs, GPUs, and even AI-accelerating components like Arm’s SME2 in the Dimensity 9500.

Personally, I think the graphics front is a more interesting battlefield in today’s market. Not because mobile games demand high frame rates; Both chipsets are overkill for the most popular Android titles, even with 120fps and graphics cranked. Rather, it’s about delivering high frame rates and graphical fidelity with reasonable power consumption and comfortable temperatures for handheld use. While these two chips are fairly evenly matched in performance, MediaTek’s use of the Arm G1 Ultra appears to give it an advantage in ray tracing and overall temperatures.

Although the results are too close to call for an outright winner based on these benchmarks, I would say that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 isn’t the only premium option in town. If you’ve opted for the Find X9 Pro over the Ultra, you’re certainly not missing out on much, at least not in the chipset department.