Dimensity 8500 chip leak hints at a power beast with 2M+ in Antutu

MediaTek appears to be gearing up for a strong showing in the mid-range smartphone market with its upcoming Dimensity 8500 chipset. The top-tier Dimensity 9500 will power next-generation flagships, while the Dimensity 8500 aims to deliver serious performance to more accessible "sub-flagship" devices. The latest leak suggests that the Dimensity 8500 will have a nice GPU boost that will take it to get a 2 million+ score in AnTuTu.

According to tipster Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Mediatek will rely on TSMC's 4nm process for the Dimensity 8500 manufacturing. The most interesting part is the potential boost to its graphics performance. While the core CPU architecture might not see radical changes, the Mali-G720 GPU is said to be significantly enhanced.

Dimensity 8500 to potentially surpass 2M AnTuTu score

This improvement is so substantial that the chip could achieve an impressive AnTuTu benchmark score of over 2 million points. For context, the current Dimensity 8400 reaches around 1.6 million, making this a notable leap in raw power.

So, which phones will be the first to feature this powerful new chip? The tipster suggests that the upcoming Redmi Turbo 5 will be on the list. This device could arrive by the end of this year or early January 2026. Global users might see this SoC first in the Poco X8 Pro, which is rumored to be a rebranded version of the Redmi Turbo 5, arriving around January 2026.

Beyond Xiaomi's sub-brands, other major players are also lining up to adopt the Dimensity 8500. Honor, as well as BBK Electronics (which includes Oppo, OnePlus, Realme, Vivo, and iQOO), are all expected to launch smartphones powered by this new MediaTek chip. There are even rumors about the Realme Neo 8 SE and iQOO Z11 Turbo featuring this chip, following the trend set by their predecessors.

Interestingly, the adoption of a metal middle frame will extend to all of these upcoming Dimensity 8500-powered phones, according to reports. So, brands that still use plastic frames for their "affordable flagships" may finally be phasing them out.