MediaTek has officially launched the Dimensity 8400, marking a significant advancement in the upper-midrange smartphone processor category. It is the first SoC in this segment to employ an all big core CPU configuration, following the premium developments seen in last year's Dimensity 9300 and this year's Dimensity 9400. The Dimensity 8400 sets its sights on dethroning the long-standing champion, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3, by offering impressive performance enhancements.
Featuring eight Cortex-A725 CPU cores that can reach clock speeds of up to 3.25 GHz, the Dimensity 8400 promises substantial improvements over its predecessor, the Dimensity 8300. MediaTek claims a remarkable 41% boost in multi-core performance alongside a significant reduction in peak power consumption—down by 44%. Moreover, it offers enhanced cache capabilities with 100% more L2 cache, 50% more L3 cache, and 25% more SLC cache.
This chipset supports high-resolution displays of WQHD+ at refresh rates up to 144 Hz, while also being compatible with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4, catering to modern smartphone needs.
The integrated Arm Mali-G720 MC7 GPU provides a 24% increase in peak performance while consuming 42% less power compared to previous generations. Furthermore, the MediaTek NPU 880 enhances capability in artificial intelligence tasks, boasting a 20% boost in processing speed for both integer and floating-point operations and a 33% increase in performance for large language model text generation.
In terms of imaging, the Dimensity 8400 houses the Imagiq 1080 ISP, which is adept at supporting sensors up to 320 MP. It offers advanced features such as in-sensor zoom with 100% PDAF, efficient HDR video recording covering the entire zoom range, and a 12% reduction in power usage during 4K HDR video capture. Additionally, the new 5G-A modem achieves download speeds of up to 5.17Gbps, ensuring robust connectivity for future-ready devices.
