MediaTek Dimensity 8400
Inquisitive Universe: Good evening to you and to yours. What's good? How's the week been?
Well I promised that I would talk about the MediaTek Dimensity 8400 and I am here. I have done the research. I want to burn the midnight candle and update the list on my site because it is out of date. These days have been super busy for me. But that's just how it is. Okay so let's goooo.
MediaTek rebranded from Helio into Dimensity a few years ago and went after Snapdragon. I already have a comprehensive post on the different tiers of MediaTek's Dimensity line up if you're interested
https://inquisitiveuniverse.com/2023/04/20/mediatek-are-looking-to-rebrand-their-socs/
The MediaTek Dimensity 8000 series fall into the flagship killer segment. We have the Dimensity 8000, 8100, 8200, 8300 and now the Dimensity 8400.
The Dimensity 8400 is on the same performance level as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The 8 Gen 2 is Qualcomm's flagship from 2023 (even though it was released in 2022).
This says a lot about MediaTek seriousness in catching up with the big boys.
Now let's just jump into the specs
MediaTek Dimensity 8400
CPU: 1x ARM Cortex A725 (3.25GHz) + 3x ARM Cortex A725 (3.0GHz) + 4x ARM Cortex A725
GPU: Mali G720 MP7
Process: 4nm TSMC
NPU: MediaTek NPU 880
RAM: LPDDR5X (4266MHz)
Storage: UFS 4.0
Camera: 320MP
Video: 4k@60fps
Display: up to 2160p
Network: 5G (5170Mbps), Bluetooth 6, WiFi 6
Performance
An SoC's performance generally refers to how powerful the level of its computing power is. This is mostly determined by its CPUs and GPUs and greatly aided by the RAM and Storage.
The Dimensity 8400 comes equipped with 8 CPU cores, all of which are Cortex A725 CPUs. The Cortex A725 is a new CPU class that is a minor improvement on the older Cortex A720. They are very powerful and with enough of them, you can get a lot of computing power.
In addition to the CPU cores, there's also a very powerful Mali G720 MP7 GPU on board to handle graphics, gaming and others.
RAM & Storage
There's a state of the art LPDDR5x RAM running at 4266MHz. It has four 16-bit channels that connect to the CPU and supports up to 24GB.
For storage, it supports UFS 4.0 which is the best storage that the Industry currently has to offer.
When you put all of these together, you'll find that the Dimensity 8400 is an absolute powerhouse. On GeekBench, the Dimensity 8400 scores 1571 for single core and 6033 for multi core tests. On AnTuTu, it has an impressive score of 1,612,212 points.
This puts it on the same performance bracket with SoCs like:
Exynos 2400 Dimensity 8400 Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 A15 Bionic Dimensity 9200+
This is not bad company to keep at all.
Multimedia
This SoC is well equipped for multimedia. It has an NPU 880 for AI tasks which have become all the rage.
It has support for cameras of up to 320MP and can record videos of up to 4K @ 60fps.
Connectivity
Like most modern high end SoCs, the Dimensity 8400 has support for 5G with theoretical download speeds of 5170Mbps.
Then there's also room for cutting edge technologies like WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 6.
Battery management
The Dimensity 8400 is built on the 4nm TSMC process. This means that this SoC should be able to manage batteries efficiently.
Now on to the possible issues with the Dimensity 8400
MediaTek does not like working with software developers.
Apps and games usually run better on Snapdragon and Apple Bionic compared to MediaTek
Optimization problems tend to be rampant with MediaTek although this is rather rare on their high end SoCs
Homebrew software, emulators, and other independently created software usually struggle on MediaTek compared to other SoCs.
Even though this SoC is built on a high end 4nm TSMC process, the Cortex A725 will be working hard at around 3GHz and will pull a lot of power. MediaTek traditionally has not been the best at thermal management
So to wrap up:
The Dimensity 8400 is a flagship killer that packs everything together in a nice package. It has got CPU power, it has got graphics, it has got AI, cameras and network speed.
Next up, we'll look at the Poco X7 pro and what it brings to the table.
That's all he wrote, good night and rest well.