Dimensity 8500 Ultra: Specs, Pros & Cons, Alternatives

KACBU

Should I buy it?

Dimensity 8500 Ultra

CONSIDER

Current model — 7 months on the market

Great choice if these matter:

Gaming
Value for Money
Daily Use

Watch out for:

Built on 4nm while flagship platforms have moved to 3nm.
MediaTek does not publish cache sizes or a TDP figure.

7 months on the market

Regret riskLOWlimited data

Main risks

Built on 4nm while flagship platforms have moved to 3nm.
MediaTek does not publish cache sizes or a TDP figure.
The 'Ultra' name is an OEM-branded variant of the Dimensity 8500 platform rather than a separate retail part.
Sustained gaming performance still depends on each phone's cooling.

The risk level is computed from the release date and verified weaknesses. The confidence score appears only once enough owner reports exist.

Alternatives

Google Tensor G6newerCompare

Intel Core 7 350newer

This box relies only on verified specs, the release date and editorial assessment; owner reports join them as they come in. We do not predict prices.

Official Statement

What does MediaTek say about the product?

A summary of MediaTek's official product description.

MediaTek

Official MediaTek source

MediaTek introduced the Dimensity 8500 as an all-Cortex-A725 design with a 25% graphics improvement.

MediaTek announced the Dimensity 8500 platform in January 2026, built on a 4nm process with eight Cortex-A725 cores — one at 3.4 GHz, three at 3.2 GHz and four at 2.2 GHz — and Mali-G720 MC8 graphics. The Ultra branding is the variant Xiaomi ships, and it reached phones with the POCO X8 Pro in March 2026.

“”

Open MediaTek's official statement

Core Structure

How many cores does the processor have?

Manufacturer's official core and architecture information.

CORE STRUCTURE

The structure decisive in multi-core tasks.

8 Core

8-core — Total Cores · 8 Thread — Concurrent Threads · 4 Performance — High-performance core · 4 Efficiency — Low-power core · Arm Cortex-A725 — Core architecture

8-core8 Thread4 Performance4 EfficiencyArm Cortex-A725

8-coreTotal Cores

8 ThreadConcurrent Threads

4 PerformanceHigh-performance core

4 EfficiencyLow-power core

Arm Cortex-A725Core architecture

Frequency

How fast does it work?

Manufacturer's official frequency values.

FREQUENCY

Value that determines single-core performance.

3.4 GHz Boost

3.4 GHz — Maximum boost frequency · 2.2 GHz — Efficiency core frequency

3.4 GHz2.2 GHz

3.4 GHzMaximum boost frequency

2.2 GHzEfficiency core frequency

Power and Cooling

How much power does it draw?

Official power values that determine cooling needs.

POWER AND COOLING

These values determine the cooling budget.

—

Device dependent — Cooling solution

Device dependent

Device dependentCooling solution

Who Is It For?

Where does it stand out?

A usage guide built from the specs and the editors' tags; not a test result.

Gaming

For gaming; tagged from the display's refresh rate and the chip's class. We have not measured frame rates or heat ourselves.

Good fit

Value for Money

An editor's tag for hardware that is well priced for what it offers. We do not track current prices; check the price before you buy.

Good fit

Daily Use

A balanced spec set for everyday use: display, battery and camera figures together.

Good fit

Editorial Analysis

Strengths and points to consider

The Kacbu editors' assessment of the specifications the maker publishes. We do not test devices ourselves, so nothing here is a measured result. Anything taken from an independent review is shown with its publication and date in the Press section.

Strengths based on the specs

Every one of the eight cores is a Cortex-A725, with the prime core at 3.4 GHz — no old efficiency cores holding back multi-core work.

Around 1.66 million on AnTuTu in GSMArena's testing of the POCO X8 Pro, close to the previous generation of flagship silicon.

Mali-G720 MC8 graphics, an eight-core GPU configuration rarely seen outside flagships.

Supports UFS 4.1 storage, so phones on this platform are not held back by slow memory.

Things to consider

Built on 4nm while flagship platforms have moved to 3nm.

MediaTek does not publish cache sizes or a TDP figure.

The 'Ultra' name is an OEM-branded variant of the Dimensity 8500 platform rather than a separate retail part.

Sustained gaming performance still depends on each phone's cooling.

Historical Product Info

Official launch details

Instead of tracking today's retail price, Kacbu keeps the product's official launch information as a reference.

AnnouncedJanuary 15, 2026

The manufacturer's official announcement date.

ReleaseMarch 17, 2026

The start of the initial sales period.

Design🇹🇼 Taiwan

Manufacturing🇹🇼 Taiwan

MediaTek is headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan and designs the chip there; it does not run its own fabs — Dimensity chips are produced by TSMC, also in Taiwan.

This is not the current retail price — it shows the product's historical, official launch information.

Specifications

Dimensity 8500 Ultra specifications

Click a linked value to see other products that share that same spec, and leave a comment on that spec.

General

Family

Dimensity 8000

Segment

Mobile upper-midrange SoC

Release Year

2026

Manufacturer

MediaTek

Core Structure

Cores

Threads

Core Architecture

Arm Cortex-A725

Efficiency Core

Performance Core

Frequency

Boost Clock

3.4 GHz

Efficiency-Core Clock

2.2 GHz

Graphics Unit

Integrated Graphics

Mali-G720 MC8

Power

Cooling Solution

Device dependent

Platform

Socket

BGA (SoC)

Manufacturing Process

4 nm

Lithography

4 nm

FAQ

The most common questions about this product

What the numbers on the spec sheet actually mean in day-to-day use.

What does the 'Ultra' in the name mean?

It is an OEM-branded implementation of MediaTek's Dimensity 8500 platform, the same practice behind names like the Dimensity 8400-Ultra. The silicon is MediaTek's; the suffix signals the tuning and feature set the phone maker ships, not a separate chip design.

How does it compare with a flagship chip?

It lands within reach of the previous generation of flagship silicon on benchmarks, which is what makes phones on this platform interesting. Against a current Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 it still trails clearly, particularly in sustained GPU work.

Which phones use it?

Every phone in this catalogue carrying it is listed on this page, so you can compare them directly.

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