Dimensity 8500 benchmarks put MediaTek’s January 2026 upper mid-range chip at 2,120,347 on AnTuTu 11 and 6,405 on Geekbench 6 multi-core, per NanoReview’s crowd aggregate. It is the chip the Dimensity 8550 was built from, and it powers nine phones led by the Honor Power 2.
MediaTek announced it on January 5, 2026, as an All Big Core design with eight Cortex-A725 cores and Mali-G720 MP8 graphics. Five months later the Dimensity 8550 arrived as a refresh of this exact silicon, adding AI features rather than new speed.
The Short Version
- Dimensity 8500 benchmarks: AnTuTu 11 total of 2,120,347 (CR), with a CPU subscore of 649,177.
- Geekbench 6 single-core of 1,555 and multi-core of 6,405 (CR), from 18 tests; Compute score of 13,461 (CR).
- Eight Cortex-A725 cores in a 1+3+4 layout, fastest at 3.4GHz, on a 4nm TSMC process.
- Mali-G720 MP8 graphics up to 1,508MHz, 3DMark Wild Life Extreme at 4,058 (CR).
- Memory is LPDDR5X up to 76.8 GB/s, up to 24GB, with UFS 4.0 and 4.1 storage.
- Nine phones listed by NanoReview, from the Honor Power 2 at 2,407,614 to the Oppo Reno 16 at 2,078,850 (CR).
Dimensity 8500 benchmarks: The AnTuTu 11 and Geekbench 6 Numbers
Dimensity 8500 benchmarks start with AnTuTu 11, where NanoReview lists a total of 2,120,347 (CR). The breakdown is 649,177 for CPU, 633,638 for GPU, 376,271 for memory and 461,261 for user experience. 3DMark Wild Life Extreme scores 4,058 (CR) with 77 percent stability. NanoReview lists no Steel Nomad Light or Solar Bay score for this chip.
Geekbench 6 adds the CPU detail. NanoReview lists a single-core score of 1,555 and a multi-core score of 6,405 (CR), from 18 tests, with a Compute score of 13,461 (CR) from 17 tests using OpenCL. Single-core trails the Dimensity 8450’s 1,612, while multi-core leads its 6,210 by about 3 percent.
Most phone-level AnTuTu 11 scores on NanoReview’s page sit close to the headline total, and most sit above it. The headline is NanoReview’s aggregate, not a ceiling, and scores vary by phone, cooling and test conditions. The lowest listed phone, the Oppo Reno 16 at 2,078,850, sits just below it. AnTuTu 12 scores on the same page are a different benchmark version and are not used here.
Inside the Chip: CPU, GPU and Memory
The CPU behind the Dimensity 8500 benchmarks uses only Cortex-A725 cores, a design MediaTek calls All Big Core. One core runs at up to 3.4GHz, three more at up to 3.2GHz, and four at up to 2.2GHz, with 1MB of L2 cache and 6MB of L3, on ARMv9.2-A.
Graphics come from the Arm Mali-G720 MP8 at up to 1,508MHz, with 1,024 shaders and 3,088.4 GFlops (CR). It supports Vulkan 1.3, OpenCL 3.0 and DirectX 12. MediaTek pairs it with HyperEngine technology and claims up to 120 frames per second in HyperEngine-optimized games (MF), for supported titles only.
Memory is LPDDR5X at 4,800MHz on NanoReview, listed as 9,600Mbps on MediaTek’s page, with up to 76.8 GB/s of bandwidth and up to 24GB. Storage covers UFS 4.0 and 4.1, and the chip is built on TSMC’s 4nm process with a 6W sustained power limit.
Dimensity 8500 benchmarks vs Dimensity 8450 and 8550: The Family Comparison
The 8500 sits between two relatives. Below it, the May 2025 Dimensity 8450 runs the same cores at lower clocks, with a Mali-G720 MP7 at 1,300MHz. Above it, the May 2026 Dimensity 8550 is a refresh of the 8500 itself, with identical CPU, GPU and memory and new AI features.
Dimensity 8500 benchmarks run about 5 percent ahead of the 8450 on AnTuTu 11, at 2,120,347 against 2,016,572 (CR), and about 9 percent ahead on Geekbench 6 Compute. Against the 8550, the 8500 trails by about 15 percent on AnTuTu 11, at 2,120,347 against 2,429,134 (CR), on identical silicon.
That gap is mostly a GPU story. The 8550’s AnTuTu GPU subscore is 952,016 against the 8500’s 633,638, while both chips list the same Mali-G720 MP8 at 1,508MHz. A crowd aggregate can move that far when the underlying phones differ.
The oddest number in the family is the GPU subscore of the 8450. Its Mali-G720 MP7 scores 641,242 on AnTuTu 11 (CR), higher than the 8500’s 633,638, despite the 8500’s GPU running about 16 percent faster at 1,508MHz against 1,300MHz. On paper the 8500 has the stronger GPU, but in NanoReview’s aggregate the older chip edges it.
Phones That Run the Dimensity 8500
Nine phones carry the chip behind the Dimensity 8500 benchmarks on NanoReview’s page, and their AnTuTu 11 scores spread from 2,078,850 to 2,407,614 (CR). The Honor Power 2 leads at 2,407,614, followed by the Motorola Edge 70 Pro Plus at 2,366,913 and the Honor Win Turbo at 2,268,740. Cooling, memory and software move the same silicon by a wide margin.
The AI and Camera Story
The NPU 880 handles on-device AI, and MediaTek says it is fine-tuned for current large language models, with Diffusion Transformer support and INT4 quantization (MF). The 8500 does not have the LLM Booster and Gemini Nano V3 support that arrived with the Dimensity 8550 refresh.
The camera side uses MediaTek’s Imagiq 1080 image signal processor, supporting up to a 320MP single sensor or three 32MP sensors, with 4K60 video capture and playback and a display ceiling of 2960 x 1440 at up to 144Hz.
Connectivity in Daily Use
The 5G-Advanced modem supports sub-6GHz bands with downloads up to 5,170Mbps, according to NanoReview. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth versions differ between sources: MediaTek lists Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4, NanoReview lists Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 6.0. In practice, the modem matters most to buyers on fast sub-6GHz 5G networks outside the United States. Buyers in Bangladesh and South Asia will see no daily benefit from extra modem headroom, since mmWave networks are not part of daily use there.
Battery: What the 91 Score Does and Does Not Mean
NanoReview gives the Dimensity 8500 a battery life rating of 91 in its Dimensity 8500 benchmarks page. That number reflects the chip’s efficiency profile on a 4nm process, not a measured phone run time. Battery life depends on the phone around the chip, so no battery winner can be named here, because battery life depends on the phone, not the chip alone.
Dimensity 8500 benchmarks in Context: Who Should Care
Dimensity 8500 benchmarks matter most to buyers choosing an upper mid-range phone in 2026. An AnTuTu 11 total above 2.1 million and a Geekbench 6 multi-core score above 6,400 place this chip well above budget silicon.
Gamers should weigh the GPU figures more than the CPU ones. The 3DMark Wild Life Extreme score of 4,058 (CR) is solid for the class, but the AnTuTu GPU subscore running below the older 8450’s shows how noisy crowd aggregates can be.
Dimensity 8500 benchmarks: Quick Answers
What are the Dimensity 8500 benchmarks? NanoReview lists an AnTuTu 11 total of 2,120,347 (CR), a Geekbench 6 single-core score of 1,555 and a multi-core score of 6,405 (CR), with a Compute score of 13,461 (CR).
Is the Dimensity 8500 a flagship chip? No. It is an upper mid-range chip announced on January 5, 2026, below the Dimensity 9400 and 9500 flagship series.
Which phones use the Dimensity 8500? NanoReview lists nine, led by the Honor Power 2 at 2,407,614 on AnTuTu 11 (CR), then the Motorola Edge 70 Pro Plus, Honor Win Turbo, Oppo K15 Pro, Motorola Edge 70 Pro, Xiaomi 17T, Redmi Turbo 5, Poco X8 Pro and Oppo Reno 16.
How is the Dimensity 8500 different from the Dimensity 8550? The 8550 is a refresh of the same silicon with an LLM Booster and Gemini Nano V3 support added. The CPU, GPU, memory and process are identical.
Why do some phones score higher than the headline total? The headline is NanoReview’s aggregate across tested phones, not a ceiling. Cooling, memory and software move scores.
The Takeaway
The Dimensity 8500 benchmarks point to a capable upper mid-range chip with one clear identity: the foundation of MediaTek’s 2026 mid-range line. Its totals are strong for the class, and nine phones already use it.
Buyers should still read the Dimensity 8500 benchmarks with the quirks in mind. The GPU subscore running below the older 8450’s and the 8550’s much higher total on identical silicon both show that crowd aggregates describe phones, not just chips. For strong everyday speed and gaming in an upper mid-range phone, this chip deserves a place on your shortlist.
Sources
- NanoReview, MediaTek Dimensity 8500 specs and benchmarks, accessed November 1, 2026 (CR).
- MediaTek, Dimensity 8500 official product page, accessed November 1, 2026 (MF).
- NanoReview, Dimensity 8550 vs Dimensity 8450 tests and benchmarks (CR).
Score methodology: Lab-reviewer (LR) scores come from named outlets’ controlled testing. Crowd (CR) scores come from aggregator databases such as NanoReview that pool user-submitted results and are less controlled. Company (MF) numbers are manufacturer claims. This article treats LR as strongest, CR as directional and MF as attributed.
