The Dimensity 9000 is a flagship challenger for Qualcomm, and now MediaTek has introduced its high-end counterparts, the Dimensity 8000 and 8100. Both processors are 5 nm devices with essentially the same circuitry. The 8100, on the other hand, is a silicon lottery winner and runs at higher clock speeds. There’s also the Dimensity 1300, which is a minor upgrade above the 1200 chip.
The two 8000 chips have four huge Cortex-A78 CPU cores and four little A55 CPU cores. The GPU is an ARM Mali-G610 MC6, which employs the company’s most recent GPU architecture. In comparison to the 8000, the Dimensity 8100 will have a 20% higher GPU frequency. In GFXBench Manhattan (offscreen), the 8100 achieved 170 frames per second, while the 8000 achieved 140.
Both processors include the MiraVision 780, which supports a 168 Hz refresh rate at FHD+ resolution and a 168 Hz refresh rate. The 8100 chip differs in that it also supports 120Hz at WQHD+. Both feature 4K AV1 video decoders as well as HDR10+ Adaptive (which adapts HDR10+ content to changing lighting conditions).
The Imagiq 780 ISP can record HDR video from two cameras at the same time at 5 gigapixels per second, as well as 4K 60 fps HDR10+ recording with one camera. This ISP supports cameras with up to 200 MP sensors, 2x lossless zoom, AI-powered noise reduction, and HDR shooting natively.
Both chipsets include 5G modems (3GPP Release 16) with two carrier aggregations for a total bandwidth of up to 200 MHz. This enables download speeds of up to 4.7 Gbps. Dual SIM, Dual Standby mode is supported by the modem. Locally, Wi-Fi
6E (2×2), Bluetooth 5.3, and Bluetooth LE Audio with Dual-Link True Wireless Stereo Audio are all supported locally. Support for BeiDou’s new B1C frequency is included in the positioning.
| Dimensity 1200 | Dimensity 8000 | Dimensity 8100 | Dimensity 9000 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Node | 6 nm | 5 nm | 5 nm | 4 nm |
| CPU (big) | 1x Cortex-A78 @ 3.0 GHz | – | – | 1x Cortex-X2 @ 3.05 GHz |
| CPU (medium) | 3x Cortex-A78 @ 2.6 GHz | 4x Cortex-A78 @ 2.75 GHz | 4x Cortex-A78 @ 2.85 GHz | 3x Cortex-A710 @ 2.85 GHz |
| CPU (small) | 4x Cortex-A55 @ 2.0 GHz | 4x Cortex-A55 @ 2.0 GHz | 4x Cortex-A55 @ 2.0 GHz | 4x Cortex-A510 @ 1.8 GHz |
| RAM | LPDDR4X (up to 4,266 Mbps) | LPDDR5 (up to 6,400 Mbps) | LPDDR5 (up to 6,400 Mbps) | LPDDR5X (up to 7,500 Mbps) |
| Storage | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 | UFS 3.1 |
| GPU | Mali-G77 MC9 | Mali-G610 MC6 | Mali-G610 MC6 (20% faster than 8000) | Mali-G710 MC10 |
| Display | FHD+ @ 168 Hz | FHD+ @ 168 Hz | FHD+ @ 168 Hz, WQHD+ @ 120 Hz | FHD+ @ 180 Hz, WQHD+ @ 144 Hz |
| Camera (stills) | 200 MP | 200 MP (5 Gpixel/s IPS) | 200 MP (5 Gpixel/s IPS) | 320 MP (9 Gpixel/s IPS) |
| Camera (video) | 4K @ 60 fps | 4K @ 60 fps (HDR10+), dual recording | 4K @ 60 fps (HDR10+), dual recording | 4K @ 60 fps (HDR10+), triple recording |
| 5G | 4.7 Gbps downlink, 2.5 Gbps uplink | 4.7 Gbps downlink | 4.7 Gbps downlink | 7 Gbps downlink, 2.5 Gbps uplink |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 (2×2) | Wi-Fi 6E (2×2) | Wi-Fi 6E (2×2) | Wi-Fi 6E (2×2) |
| Bluetooth | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.3 |
The only difference between the Dimensity 1300 and 1200 is the enhanced NPU performance, which provides more number-crunching power for night mode and HDR processing with AI.
Smartphones with a density of 1300, 8000, or 8100 chipsets will be available in the first quarter of 2022, so expect a flurry of announcements in March from “some of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers.”
