Hardwired
In Hardwired, AC Senior Editor Harish Jonnalagadda delves into all issues {hardware}, together with telephones, audio merchandise, storage servers, and networking gear.
I get to make use of over 75 telephones in a given 12 months, and an awesome majority of these gadgets are powered by Qualcomm. Curiously sufficient, the telephones I used probably the most in 2025 featured the Dimensity 9400, and it goes to point out the quantity of progress MediaTek made over the past two years.
Qualcomm remains to be in a dominant place within the high-end class, however MediaTek netted vital design wins, notably the Vivo X200 Professional and Discover X8 Professional. These are two of one of the best camera-centric telephones accessible as we speak, they usually’re each powered by the Dimensity 9400.
Although MediaTek is utilizing common Arm cores — Qualcomm switched to a customized design this 12 months — there actually is not a lot of a distinction. The X200 Professional takes one of the best pictures of any cellphone I used till now, and it does a terrific job in demanding video games. It holds up extremely effectively in mundane conditions as effectively, and I did not see any variations when utilizing on-device AI utilities.
With MediaTek additionally shifting to the 3nm node, there is no distinction in effectivity both, and if something, I received higher battery life out of the X200 Professional than Qualcomm-based gadgets with an identical battery dimension. That is not to say that Qualcomm is lagging behind; the 8 Elite is clearly one of many quickest cellular platforms accessible as we speak, and it is good to see MediaTek providing an alternate.
It is clear that Chinese language producers wish to use each MediaTek and Qualcomm designs of their telephones; whereas the X200 Professional has the Dimensity 9400, Vivo’s X200 Extremely is powered by Qualcomm, and the identical is true of the Discover X8 Extremely as effectively. Nonetheless, these gadgets are restricted to China, and that continues to be annoying.
What I am making an attempt to say is that MediaTek is in some way in a position to catch as much as Qualcomm within the high-end class, and that is nice information for the trade as a complete. With Samsung failing to make floor with Exynos and Huawei severely hobbled by commerce restrictions, there’s a distinct dearth of rivalry with regards to cellular platforms, and it is good to see MediaTek using its momentum to rival Qualcomm on this space.
MediaTek is making first rate inroads into the U.S. as effectively, one thing it has struggled to do previously. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 tablets are powered by the Dimensity 9300+, and whereas these gadgets will not promote in as many numbers because the model’s telephones, the truth that the producer is utilizing MediaTek-based designs globally is a large endorsement.
That mentioned, MediaTek nonetheless does not have a foothold with foldables — all of the foldables I utilized in 2025 are powered by Qualcomm. We might get to see Chinese language producers utilizing next-gen Dimensity platforms, however that could be a couple of years away. It is evident that MediaTek needs to proceed making headway within the high-end and shore up its lead within the mid-range classes within the interim.
One other limiting issue previously was that telephones powered by MediaTek would take longer to get software program updates, however that simply is not the case now. My Vivo X100 Professional made the change to Android 15 concurrently Qualcomm-based rivals, and MediaTek is working carefully with main manufacturers to make sure it supplies the requisite drivers to roll out updates sooner.
In the end, it is good to see there are two nice selections of platforms for Android flagships, and I need MediaTek to proceed its momentum with the Dimensity 9500.