.webp)
The Samsung Galaxy S25 was launched last week with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, which on paper comes with a faster CPU than the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The question arises whether there is a performance difference between these two chips. We will also see if there is a clear performance gap between the 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy with the Dimensity 9400, Tensor G4, A18 Pro, and A17 Pro.
As usual, I have used four benchmarking apps to see the performance of all the flagship chips below. For this article I used the list of devices below
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy – Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gaming) – Redmagic 10 Pro
Snapdragon 8 Elite (Regular) – Realme GT7 Pro
Dimensity 9400 – Oppo Find X8 Pro
Apple A18 Pro – Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
Apple A17 Pro – Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
Tensor G4 – Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
AnTuTu 3D
Chip Score
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy 1,946,864
Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gaming) 2,279,886
Snapdragon 8 Elite (Regular) 2,642,097
Dimensity 9400 2,629,017
Apple A18 Pro 1,720,751
Apple A17 Pro 1,542,050
Tensor G4 1,016,712
Geekbench 6
Single Core Multi Core Chip
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy 2957 9435
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (Gaming) 3009 9295
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy (Regular) 2789 9002
Dimensity 9400 2663 8959
Apple A18 Pro 3359 8129
Apple A17 pro 2793 6925
Tensor G4 1916 4644
Geekbench AI
Chip Single Accuracy Score Half Accuracy Score Quantized Score
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy 2727 2703 4580
Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gaming) 2277 2356 4132
Snapdragon 8 Elite (Regular) 2307 2323 3027
Dimensity 9400 1728 1740 2147
Apple A18 Pro 3975 7744 6204
Apple A17 Pro 3705 6515 5696
Tensor G4 2058 2017 3129
3DMark Wildlife Extreme
Chip Scores
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy 6135
Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gaming) 6647
Snapdragon 8 Elite (Normal) 5922
Dimensity 9400 6251
Apple A18 Pro 4560
Apple A17 Pro 3746
Tensor G4 2567
Conclusion
The benchmark tests confirm my previous opinion that scores are not everything as the results recorded are not necessarily consistent. Sometimes the Snapdragon 8 Elite used to record higher scores as seen in Antutu 3D but then was overtaken by the 8 Elite for Galaxy in tests like Geekbench and Geekbench AI.
You can choose to see which score is more pleasing to the heart. But we feel that there is no significant difference in terms of performance between the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S24 Ultra with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. If you are looking for a sudden performance increase, it will not be seen this year.
Honestly, I can say that the only device that can feel the difference in this list is the Oppo Find X8 Pro which is much smoother than other Android devices I have ever used. The level of smoothness of the Find X8 Pro interface is comparable to the iPhone 16 Pro Max. It is the first time that an Android device provides smoothness like iOS.
The conclusion here is that the performance improvement if it exists is not that big, between 5-10% which is not significant. It is not enough to make users feel the need to buy the S25 Ultra just for better performance. Overall, people are now more concerned with the smoothness that can be felt in the device they are going to buy. This may be the reason why iPhones record high sales even though the scores in the benchmark application are not that high.
What is certain is that the only device that loses badly is the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. This is a flagship device that sells at a premium price but the real-world performance is not amazing. In fact, among the seven devices in this article, the 9 Pro XL is not very smooth to use and the gaming performance is also a few steps below.
In 2025, buying any device with Snapdragon 8 Elite regardless of the version will offer a user experience that will not disappoint.