MediaTek announced the Dimensity 9300+ in May 2024, whereas the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 arrived in November 2022. The two are flagship smartphone chipsets built on TSMC’s 4nm process node.
Both chipsets have powerful CPU and GPU cores, and imaging capabilities, making it difficult to choose one over the other. In this post, we’ll present the benchmarking results and major differences between the two chips to help you make a better choice.
Quickly go through the spec sheet below for a basic understanding.
| Dimensity 9300+ | SD 8 Gen 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Release Date | May 2024 | November 2022 |
| Process node | 4nm TSMC | 4nm TSMC |
| CPU | 1 x Cortex-X4 @ 3.4 GHz 3 x Cortex-X4 @ 2.85 GHz 4 x Cortex-A720 @ 2.0 GHz | 1 x Cortex-X3 @ 3.2 GHz 2 x Cortex-A715 @ 2.8 GHz 2 x Cortex-A710 @ 2.8 GHz 3 x Cortex-A510 @ 2.0 GHz |
| GPU | Mali-G720 Immortalis MP12 OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 3.0, Vulkan 1.3 APIs | Adreno 740 OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 FP, Vulkan 1.3 APIs |
| GAMING | MediaTek Adaptive Gaming Technology Hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing Console-grade global illumination effects MediaTek HyperEngine NOS | Snapdragon Elite Gaming Hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing Game Post Processing Accelerators Unreal Engine 5 MetaHumans framework |
| NPU | MediaTek NPU 790 | Hexagon NPU |
| Memory | Up to 24 GB RAM LPDDR5T @ 4800 MHz | Up to 24GB RAM LPDDR5X @ 4200 MHz |
| Storage | UFS 4.0 | UFS 4.0 |
| Camera | MediaTek Imagiq 990 (18-bit) Up to 320MP camera sensor support | Qualcomm Spectra Triple ISP (18-bit) 200 MP, 108 MP (MFNR, ZSL) |
| Video recording | 8K @ 30 FPS, 4K @ 60 FPS | 8K @ 30 fps, 4K @ 120 FPS 720p slow-mo @ 960 FPS |
| Display | 4K @ 120 Hz, WQHD @ 180 Hz | Max resolution (on-device): QHD+ @ 144 Hz, 4K Ultra HD @ 60 Hz Max resolution (external): 4K @ 60 Hz 10-bit color, HDR10+, HDR10, HDR Vivid |
| Connectivity | 5G / 4G / 3G / 2G Wi-Fi 7 NFC Bluetooth 5.4 NavIC support | 5G / 4G / 3G / 2G Wi-Fi 7 NFC Bluetooth 5.3 NavIC support |
Dimensity 9300+ vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: Benchmarks
Geekbench 6
| Dimensity 9300+ | SD 8 Gen 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Single core | 2313 | 1984 |
| Multi core | 7743 | 5356 |
AnTuTu 10
| Dimensity 9300+ | SD 8 Gen 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 538809 | 392389 |
| GPU | 940944 | 603295 |
| Memory | 472337 | 310704 |
| UX | 353177 | 287289 |
| Total score |
Dimensity 9300+ vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: CPU
The octa-core Dimensity chip has four big cores (one Cortex-X4 core @ 3.4 GHz, three Cortex-X4 @ 2.85 GHz) and four Cortex-A720 mid-cores clocked at 2.0 GHz.
The CPU cluster in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 consists of one Cortex-X3 prime core running at 3.2 GHz, four performance cores (two Cortex-A715 cores @ 2.8 GHz, two Cortex-A710 cores @ 2.8 GHz), and three Cortex-A510 power-efficient cores with up to 2.0 GHz clock speed.
The Dimensity 9300+ has better cores than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, resulting in better performance. But, the Snapdragon chip has more power-efficient cores, which should result in better power efficiency.
Dimensity 9300+ vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: GPU
The Dimensity 9300+ is equipped with Mali-G720 Immortalis MP12 GPU, whereas the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 has Adreno 740. Both are powerful GPUs and can handle high-end games without any lag.
The Mali-G720 Immortalis MP12 (in Dimensity 9300+) outperforms the Adreno 740 (in Snapdragon Gen 2) on gaming benchmarks. However, we all know there’s a difference between what you see on benchmarks and how the chip performs in real life.
Testing graphically demanding games such as PUBG Mobile, Genshin Impact, and Asphalt 9: Legends at basic settings on devices powered by these two chips doesn’t show a big difference. However, the Dimensity 9300+ shows some FPS drops at maximum graphics settings, while the Adreno 740 doesn’t.
While the GPU benchmarks favour Mali-G720 Immortalis MP12, the Adreno 740 does a better job when you actually play games at higher settings. However, at basic settings, both chips do excellent work.
Well, GPU performance varies from game to game. So, if there’s a specific game you play the most, I recommend checking how these two chips handle that particular game.
The chips are equipped with many gaming features to offer a better experience. For instance, the Dimensity 9300+ has MediaTek Adaptive Gaming Technology, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, console-grade global illumination effects, and MediaTek HyperEngine NOS.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 also includes gaming optimizations, such as Snapdragon Elite Gaming, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, Game Post Processing Accelerators, and the Unreal Engine 5 MetaHuman framework.
Dimensity 9300+ vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: AI & NPU
The Dimensity chip has the MediaTek NPU 790 generative AI engine. It can run large language models (LLMs) with 7 billion parameters at 22 tokens per second. The updated AI engine supports a wide range of LLMs, including 01.AI Yi-Nano, Alibaba Cloud Qwen, Baichuan,Google Gemini Nano, Meta Llama 2, Llama 3, and ERNIE-3.5-SE. Dimensity 9300+ also supports on-device LoRA Fusion and NeuroPilot LoRA Fusion 2.0.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 uses a hexagon NPU, which is significantly improved compared to its predecessors. It can run LLMs on-device. The Hexagon NPU used in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is one of the fastest inside a smartphone chip.
Both chips have powerful NPUs with generative AI capabilities and support a wide range of LLMs on-device.
Dimensity 9300+ vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: Memory & Storage
The memory and storage technologies are pretty much the same in the two chips. Both support UFS 4.0 fast storage and LPDDR5X RAM (the Dimensity 9300+ also supports LPDDR5T).
Dimensity 9300+ vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: Display & Multimedia
The Dimensity chip supports up to 4K screen resolution at 120Hz refresh rate or WQHD resolution with up to 180Hz refresh rate. The Snapdragon chip, on the other hand, supports 4K Ultra HD screen resolution with 60Hz refresh rate or QHD+ resolution with support for 144Hz refresh rate.
As for the camera, the Dimensity 9300+ features an Imagiq 990 18-bit ISP and supports a maximum camera resolution of 320-megapixel. The Snapdragon chip can go up to 200-megapixel for a single camera. It is equipped with an 18-bit Qualcomm Spectra Triple ISP. The chip also supports up to a 108-megapixel camera sensor with multi-frame noise reduction (MFNR) and zero-shutter lag (ZSL).
Both chips can record up to 8K videos at 30 FPS, but the Snapdragon chip can also record 4K videos at 120 FPS, which is limited to 60 FPS on the Dimensity chip.
Dimensity 9300+ vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: Connectivity
Both chips support necessary connectivity features such as Wi-Fi 7, NFC, 5G/4G/3G/2G, and positioning systems (GLONASS, NavIC, Beidou, GPS, QZSS, Galileo).
The Snapdragon chip supports Bluetooth 5.3, whereas the Snapdragon chip supports a newer Bluetooth 5.4 standard. Both chips use their in-house modems. Another thing to note here is that the Snapdragon chip has a peak download speed of 10Gbps, which is 6.5Gbps in the Dimensity chip. This won’t make much difference unless you require a seriously high download speed.
Dimensity 9300+ vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2: Which is Better?
Both Dimensity 9300+ and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chips have high CPU and GPU performance. However, the Dimensity chip has a slight edge in CPU performance because of the newer Cortex-X4 and Cortex-A720 cores.
Both chips have highly capable and efficient GPUs that can smoothly handle games of all kinds. However, the Snapdragon chip tends to perform better at max settings.
If I had to pick one, I’d go with the Dimensity 9300+. However, if gaming is my primary concern, I’d be inclined more towards the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, as Adreno GPUs are better known for gaming stability.
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