What you need to know
- The Dimensity 8400 is shaking up mid-range phones with its “All Big Core” design, ditching the usual “little” cores for eight powerful Arm Cortex-A725 cores.
- It delivers a 41% boost in multi-core performance and cuts peak power consumption by 44% compared to the Dimensity 8300.
- The NPU 880 speeds up Generative AI tasks, while MediaTek’s Dimensity Agentic AI Engine (DAE) takes AI apps to the next level.
MediaTek’s Dimensity 8400 is here to shake up the mid-range phone segment. The big twist is that it scraps the usual “little” cores this time around.
The Dimensity 8400 goes all-in with an “All Big Core” CPU design, ditching the usual mix for eight high-power Arm Cortex-A725 cores clocked at 3.25GHz. Compared to the Dimensity 8300, this shift delivers a massive 41% bump in multi-core performance, as per MediaTek. Even better, it pulls off this power move while cutting peak energy use by 44%.
This design mirrors what we’ve seen in flagship Android chips, which have also ditched low-power cores. What makes it groundbreaking, though, is that it’s the first mid-range processor to embrace this bold design.
Backing up the CPU is a strong Neural Processing Unit (NPU) built to speed up Generative AI tasks. On top of that, MediaTek’s Dimensity Agentic AI Engine (DAE) takes regular AI apps to the next level, turning them into smarter, autonomous systems. This means the chipset predicts your device’s power needs, optimizing performance before you even notice a slow-down.
The Dimensity 8400 also packs a powerhouse GPU with the Arm Mali-G720 MC7, a big step up from the Mali-G615 MC6. MediaTek says this upgrade delivers a 24% boost in peak performance and a 42% jump in power efficiency. With extras like MediaTek’s Frame Rate Converter and Adaptive Gaming Technology 3.0, the Dimensity 8400 clearly wants to dominate mobile gaming.
Powered by the NPU 880, the chipset is built to handle large language models, making it capable of creating awesome media and giving smart, context-aware responses.
The Dimensity 8400 comes with a top-tier imaging system, led by the MediaTek Imagiq 1080 ISP. With remosaic tech, it captures more light, speeds up autofocus, and shoots super-sharp, high-res photos.
It also supports HDR video recording across the full zoom range, so you can capture footage with amazing dynamic range.
For connectivity, the Dimensity 8400 packs a 5G-Advanced modem with up to 3CC-CA, offering peak download speeds of 5.17 Gbps.
And when it comes to displays, this chipset supports WQHD+ screens with up to 144Hz refresh rates, plus dual-screen support for better multitasking and productivity.
The first phones with the Dimensity 8400 should hit by the end of 2024, but you’ll mostly see it in 2025 models.