MediaTek looks set to pull a cheeky move in the flagship chipset race, with its upcoming Dimensity 9500 tipped to debut just a day before Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite 2.

According to reliable leaker Digital Chat Station, the Dimensity 9500 is slated for announcement on 22 September, while Qualcomm will unveil its next-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 at its annual Snapdragon Summit on 23 September.

Both chips are expected to be built on TSMC’s 3nm process, promising higher speeds and better efficiency for 2025’s Android flagships.

Early leaks suggest MediaTek will stick with ARM’s standard CPU and GPU designs, featuring four Cortex-X930 cores (one at 4.00GHz) and four Cortex-A730 cores, paired with a Mali-G1 Ultra 12-core GPU.

Geekbench 6 results point to 3,900+ single-core and 11,000+ multi-core scores, putting it firmly in elite territory.

Qualcomm’s 8 Elite 2, however, is expected to push its custom Oryon cores up to 4.74GHz.

One standout for the Dimensity 9500 could be support for ARM’s Scalable Matrix Extension (SME), potentially boosting AI and complex computing performance – an increasingly critical factor in premium smartphones.

While Qualcomm’s silicon is likely to power flagships like the Xiaomi 16 series, MediaTek’s chip is expected to appear in the next Oppo Find X9 and Vivo X300 models.

With both giants vying for the performance crown, September is shaping up to be a mobile tech showdown.