MediaTek's new powerhouse chip is the unicorn you'll never get to see

MediaTek has been killing it the past couple of years when it comes to chips for high-end electronics. While you might think of the company as one that provides cheap, steady workhorse chips for budget gear, the Dimensity line boasts specs just as powerful as whatever name you think of when it comes to a premium smartphone chip. OK, it's Qualcomm, and we all know it's Qualcomm.

The latest, the Dimensity 9500, looks like it got every improvement possible, especially in the right places: AI processing. Like it or not, your smart devices are going to become more and more AI-centric, so whatever chip can process it all fast and efficiently is going to feel like it works "better" than the others. MediaTek is right there.

Everything I think about the Dimensity 9500 is based on what it does "on paper," just like the flagship Dimensity chips before it, simply because I live in the United States and buy phones designed for the United States. AKA: phones without a MediaTek Dimensity 9500 chip inside.

That makes me sad. Yes, I know I can easily buy a Xiaomi phone that uses the chip I want to try, but that's not exactly what I want. I want to try a Galaxy S26 or Pixel 11, for example, with one in it so I can see how it compares to the others. Since trying the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and its MediaTek 9300 Plus, I've been itching to try it on a phone that I'm familiar with.

I had my hopes up at one time for Google to partner with MediaTek (the two companies are very friendly) in the Pixel phones, but designing its own chip is a smarter move, so I won't grumble.

I simply do not care about how it performs on paper. I do not give a flying, well you know, about benchmarks. I can say anything in a press release and be confident nobody will ever spend the time to prove it's not 100% accurate, and I can make a benchmark app tell you whatever number you want to see with a few minutes in Android Studio. Yeah, I'm saying companies tell little white lies to make their stuff look good. Always have, always will.

I have used plenty of products with a MediaTek chip, including the 2024 Motorola Razr with a Dimensity 7300X. It's a good chip designed specifically for a flip phone but it's not the flagship powerhouse its bigger brothers are. Having said that, its really good, and you would never think you had a "budget" chip inside your new phone.

I think MediaTek's improvements to the data path and chain AI processing needs are a good move. It's also something every company likes to remind us they did whenever something new comes along.

Someone has to do it best, right? It might be MediaTek. Most of us will never know.