Samsung could use MediaTek’s new premium Dimensity chip in its phones

MediaTek has launched a new chipset for mobile devices, the Dimensity 8450, at the MediaTek India Dimensity Summit. It is a slightly upgraded variant of the Dimensity 8400, which, the brand launched in December 2024. 

What’s interesting is that among the brands that attended the launch, there was Samsung, which suggests that the South Korean tech giant may use this chipset for its upcoming Galaxy smartphones and tablets.

The MediaTek Dimensity 8450 has one Cortex-A725 CPU core with 1MB L2 cache, three Cortex-A725 cores with 512KB L2 cache, and four Cortex-A725 CPU cores with 256KB L2 cache. As you can see, it has the same CPU configuration as the Dimensity 8400, and with that, it is now among the very few chipsets featuring all big CPU cores. The new model also has the same GPU as the old one, the ARM Mali-G720 MC7.

So, what upgrades does the Dimensity 8450 offer over the Dimensity 8400? Well, according to GSMArena, they come in the form of optimisations for graphics and imaging. Starting with graphics, the GPU has StartSpeed Engine, which improves real-world gaming performance. As for imaging, the chipset has an improved image signal processor (ISP) that offers live-stream optimisations for better pictures and videos.

Going by these specifications, the Dimensity 8450 looks like an upper mid-range SoC that is more powerful than Samsung's upper mid-range SoC, the Exynos 1580. Considering that Samsung attended its launch event , the South Korean tech giant may use the Dimensity 8450 in devices where the Exynos 1580 isn't powerful enough and the Exynos 2400e is an overkill. Unfortunately, there is no information about when and which phone Samsung may launch with this SoC.

Interestingly, there is already a phone on sale with the new chipset, the Oppo Reno14 Pro.