The SoC: In modern smartphones, the “processor” doesn’t only refer to a single CPU – it’s a highly integrated system-on-a-chip (SoC) responsible for graphics, artificial intelligence, and more. Understanding a phone's chipset helps you choose the right one. This time, we'll rank the best smartphone processors of the year based on performance, to help you make an informed choice.
The 2025 Power Players: The Best Processors in Smartphones to Own
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
Coming in at number one in our top 10 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite. That isn’t the case anymore with the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s Snapdragon processor — this is now king of the hill for raw smartphone processing power (if not Android in general, then in some tests even beating Apple).
- The Performance King: Over 2.8 million in AnTuTu, 3k single-core, 9800 multi-core Geekbench scores
- Powerhouse: Acts as an all-purpose machine, blowing out game graphics.
- Enhanced Performance: Constructed on TSMC's 3nm N3E mode, much cooler and throttles less than predecessors on heavy loads.
- New Architecture: Custom Qualcomm Oryon cores (2 performance + 6 efficiency) have been introduced, replacing standard ARM, improving performance.
- Improved Graphics: 33% ray tracing performance bump on an Adreno GPU.
MediaTek Dimensity 9400
MediaTek's Dimensity 9400, meanwhile, is well-positioned to challenge for flagship honors on Qualcomm's heels. This Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is exceptionally powerful, but it lags slightly behind the Snapdragon 8 Elite in integrated benchmark scores.
- Flagship Contender: 3nm process like the Snapdragon 8 Elite, though featuring different core layout.
- Core Configuration: A tri-cluster architecture (1 super-core + 3 fast cores + 4 efficiency cores) redefining performance and power efficiency
- Ray Tracing Graphics: Arm Immortalis-G925 GPU with 40% Performance Improvement in Ray Tracing
- Other benchmark scores: AnTuTu 2.5M, Geekbench 2700/7800 (single/multi-core).
- Focused on Efficiency: Core layout is designed with the goal of energy efficiency in everyday processes without sacrificing performance when performance is necessary.
Apple A18 Pro
In single-core performance, Apple's A18 Pro remains impressive, as per Apple's legacy, but with a solid core-optimization, it rests in the lower half of the top-10 for 2025.
- Single-Core King: Highest single-core Geekbench scores (~3300), beats all the competition here.
- Overall Performance: It’s a well-rounded, but ultimately not a raw powerhouse. Its multi-core and overall scores (around 8000 in geekbech multi-core, around 1.7m in anTuTu) are lower than the top Android chips.
- iOS Tuning: In terms of raw performance, Android and iOS chips aren't always an apple-to-apples comparison since they exist in different software ecosystems; tuning and optimization matter substantially on iOS.
- Performance Improvements: Based on TSMC's all-new second-generation 3nm process technology that achieves 20 percent higher energy efficiency at similar performance levels compared to A17 Pro.
Apple A18
Performance of the standard Apple A18 is surprisingly close to the 'Pro' version in benchmarks, so it's a super-powerful chip in its own right, blurring the lines between "standard" and "pro" performance tiers.
- Pro Performance Neary: Benchmark scores are very close to the A18 Pro, with only a small difference on AnTuTu and Geekbench.
- Recommended User Experience: Most will never notice the difference in real-world performance between A18 Pro and A17.
- Intriguingly, an massive performance imperial over its forerunner: The CPU is 30% faster than the A16 Bionic, and the GPU is 40% faster than the A16 Bionic GPU.
- AI Focus: Twice as efficient for machine learning workloads compared to past generations.
- Same Process: Manufactured on the same 3nm TSMC process node as the A18 Pro.
Samsung Exynos 2400
Even though most Samsung flagships used Qualcomm in 2025, the last-gen Samsung Exynos 2400 is still a very powerful chip, just not quite at the top of this ranking.
- Old Flagship: Used in previous Samsung flagships, still powerful but not the same monsters as 2025 chips.
- Performance Gap: Definitely behind top chips like Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9400 in the benchmarks — single-core Geekbench (2100) and multi-core (6557), also even Apple A18 Pro. AnTuTu scores are a bit closer but still lower.
- 10-Core Design: While an interesting addition, a 10-core (1 super-core, 5 fast, 4 efficiency) design has failed to deliver the best in performance in practice compared to an 8-core design.
- Thermal Issues: Adequate cooling required, apparently, with claims of throttling resulting from a 4nm LPP+ process and aggressive configuration of cores.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is designed to sit just below the "flagship" 8 Gen 3, with plenty of flagship features in a slightly less capable package at a lower price point, which means it should be great for upper-mid-range phones.
- Flagship Killers: A "tamed" version of the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, but more than capable.
- Core Architecture: It also has a Cortex-X4 super core, along with Cortex-A720 and A520 cores, on a 4nm process just like the 8 Gen 3.
- Portraits And Night Mode Graphics More: The improved ISP (image signal processing) and NPU (neural processing unit), along with enhanced intelligent algorithms machine learning driven to enable better night mode captures and more portrait modes.
- PERFORMANCE LEVEL: Benchmarks fall short of the 8 Gen 3 (AnTuTu about 1.5 million ones compared to 2.2 million for 8 Gen 3), but are still stunning for its category. Geekbench scores are similarly lower.
- Upper Mid-Range Focus: Aimed to enable real-world performance outcomes for high-performing phone designs that aren't necessarily ultra-high-end flagship devices but still balance performance and cost effectively.
Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 by Qualcomm
Qualcomm will detail the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 series of systems-on-chip (including the 7+ Gen 3 variant) tomorrow, together with the generational leap for mid-range smartphones that it offers at a price that's affordable compared to its flagship, top-of-the-line variants. The 7+ Gen 3 is a massive step up, crossing into serious performance territory.
- Balanced Work (7 Gen 3): Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 is a great chipset for mid-range phones due to it balanced features and price.
- AI Prowess (7+ Gen 3): Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 is a mid-range marvel powering on-device AI performance with big language and visual models, including Llama 2 and Gemini Nano — a watershed moment for this tier.
- 7+ Gen 3 - AnTuTu scores: 7+ Gen 3 score comparably well for its class (about 1.4 million points), meaning a meaningful performance boost.
- Core Configuration: The 7 Gen 3 chips share a 1+3+4 core configuration on TSMC's 4nm process.
- AI Focus: 7 Gen 3 series' AI-focused features, particularly in the '+' variant are likely to attract manufacturers while enhancing voice assistants and visual content generation.
MediaTek Dimensity 8200
While the MediaTek Dimensity 8200 was first launched in late 2022, it is still a relevant and capable platform for mid-range smartphones as we edge into early 2025, especially those focused on gaming.
- Not relegated to the past yet Mid-Range: The Dimensity 8200 is quite an old chipset but still puts up a respectable performance, scoring above 900,000 on AnTuTu.
- Gaming Focus: This model focuses on gaming in particular, with offerings such as the HyperEngine 6.0 that ensure that gameplay runs smoothly at high frame rates.
- Core Configuration: 1+3+4 CPU core config with Cortex-A78 and Cortex-A55 cores, ARM Mali-G610 GPU.
- Photography Capabilities: Imagiq 785 image processor, supports up to 320MP cameras and 14-bit HDR video capture
- Gaming Allure: The gaming allure of this Razer phone is further enhanced with support for Wi-Fi 6E, fast LPDDR5 RAM and high refresh rate screens (up to 180Hz).
Choosing Your Chip
This top-of-the-line processors for 2025 shows how powerful smartphones can get. If you want the absolute top-end of the performance tables or the best value for all your gaming and AI needs in a smartphone, working your way through these chipsets will steer you towards your perfect purchase.
