I Tested 5G Modems on Qualcomm and MediaTek Phones to Find Which Performs Better in India

Qualcomm has long been the leader in mobile connectivity and since the 5G buzz, the chipmaker has released advanced 5G modems to deliver ultra-fast performance. MediaTek, on the other hand, is not discussed much as far as its 5G modems are concerned. Even though MediaTek's 5G modems power flagship phones like the Vivo X300 Pro, people generally veer towards Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets for superior mobile connectivity.

So, I decided to investigate whether MediaTek has caught up with Qualcomm in the 5G race. I tested four phones including two flagships and two mid-rangers on the same mobile network in two different locations. And the results are quite interesting.

How I Tested 5G Modems

I picked four phones – two phones powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipsets and two from MediaTek's Dimensity lineup. Here are my testing devices:

• OnePlus 15 – Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (Qualcomm X85 5G modem)
• Vivo X300 Pro – Dimensity 9500 (MediaTek Release 17 5G modem)
• Nothing Phone (4a) Pro – Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 (Snapdragon Release 17 5G modem)
• Realme P4 Power – Dimensity 7400 (MediaTek Release 16 5G modem)

The same Jio 5G SIM was used on each phone and I tested at two different locations. The first testing was done at our office in Noida as the "Secluded spot" while the second testing was done at the Noida Sector 16 Metro Station as the "Crowded location". The aim was to see how the modems behave when the network has low traffic, compared to when it's under heavy congestion.

For each test, I used the Speedtest by Ookla app to record download speed, upload speed, ping and jitter. I also used the NetMonster app to capture radio-level details like signal strength (RSRP), signal quality (RSRQ), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and which 5G bands the phone is connected to.

That said, I want to point out that each 5G modem is tested within a specific phone. The 5G modem performance is affected by the phone manufacturer's antenna design and RF tuning, so the results show the overall implementation, not just the 5G modem.

Qualcomm vs MediaTek – 5G Speed Test Results

Now, let's take a look at the results. In the secluded test, Qualcomm chips, including both flagship and mid-range 5G modems, beat MediaTek counterparts on download speed. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 hit 436 Mbps against the Dimensity 9500's 325 Mbps, which is a difference of 34%. The mid-ranger Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 delivered even better, clocking 453 Mbps against Dimensity 7400's 349 Mbps, which is roughly a 30% gap. 

Looking at upload speeds, the Dimensity 9500 pulled 57.8 Mbps in the quiet location, which is around 36% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5's 42.6 Mbps. However, the Dimensity 7400 did really poor, delivering just 3.21 Mbps in upload speed, compared to Snapdragon 7 Gen 4's 43.6 Mbps.

Now, let's move to 5G test results from the congested area. Here, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 delivered 44 Mbps against Dimensity 9500's 27.5 Mbps. However, in every other metric, MediaTek's 5G modem did better. Upload was 11.7 Mbps vs 0.86 Mbps, ping was 28 ms vs 159 ms and jitter sat at 14 ms vs 72 ms. It means that the Dimensity 9500 offers a more usable connection than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in crowded places.

The mid-range comparison shows an even bigger difference. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 dropped to 4.69 Mbps download and 0.10 Mbps upload speed in the crowded spot. Whereas, the Dimensity 7400 held 28.4 Mbps and 5.48 Mbps in the same area. Not to mention, ping and jitter is also better on the Dimensity 7400.

Where MediaTek Surprises – Uploads, Latency and Coverage

First of all, MediaTek's Dimensity 9500 is noticeably stronger than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 on upload speeds. Since Dimensity 9500's 5G modem comes with Power Class 2 uplink (up to 26 dBm) and 2x2 uplink MIMO under 3GPP Release 17, we see better uplink performance. Basically, MediaTek-powered phones send a stronger signal to the tower and use two antennas to do it.

In the Indian context, it results in better experience while uploading reels, sending photos/videos on WhatsApp, video calling, Google Photos backup and more. Note that this PC2 uplink and Release 17 advantage is specific to the flagship Dimensity 9500. The mid-range Dimensity 7400's 5G modem is based on the Release 16 design and that's why it doesn't show the same uplink performance in the secluded location.

Next, MediaTek handles congestion better than Qualcomm in both secluded and crowded locations. Look at the ping numbers in the crowded area, the Dimensity 9500 stayed at 28 ms while the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 ballooned to 159 ms. Latency while uploading was even more dramatic as the Snapdragon hit 4,554 ms versus the Dimensity's 492 ms under severe congestion.

Image Credit: Beebom Gadgets

The radio-level signal strength (RSRP) was actually fine on both phones, but MediaTek's 5G modem did better at managing the link when the cell was overloaded. The company says it uses AI-powered congestion prediction in its modem to forecast traffic patterns and manage the connection. MediaTek claims up to a 50% reduction in latency from this AI feature and the latency numbers suggest something is working.

Thirdly, the mid-ranger Dimensity 7400 supports 5G carrier aggregation (CA) while the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 doesn't. Carrier aggregation is when a phone combines two or more 5G bands at the same time to deliver better performance. NetMonster confirmed the Dimensity 7400 was using n28 (700 MHz) and n78 (3500 MHz) bands together in the crowded location.

That's why the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 dropped to a much lower speed while Dimensity 7400 did relatively well in a crowded space. When n78 gets overloaded, there is nowhere for the phone to fall back to. In this case, the Dimensity 7400 used both n28 and n78 to cut through the congestion and offer a usable experience.

Where Qualcomm Still Leads – Peak Speeds and Idle Latency

Qualcomm's strength is noticeably visible when the network activity is low. It also did better in the crowded space, but the difference is not that huge. The Qualcomm X85 5G modem in the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is a 5G Advanced modem based on Release 17 and 18 specs while the modem inside the Dimensity 9500 is a Release 17 modem.

On top of that, the X85 modem has mmWave 5G bands support with 6CC carrier aggregation support. All of it results in faster real-world downloads, especially when the cell is not congested. Qualcomm also has an edge on idle ping. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 returned a ping of 16ms, compared to Dimensity 9500's 27 ms. If you are playing online mobile games, Snapdragon-powered phones will offer a better experience.

Image Credit: Beebom Gadgets

Qualcomm has also baked AI into its 5G modem. The X85 includes a 4th-gen Qualcomm 5G AI co-processor with a dedicated tensor accelerator. The company claims it delivers 30% faster AI inference than the previous generation and it powers Qualcomm's Data Traffic Engine to improve power efficiency, signal coverage and latency in real time.

Not to mention, Qualcomm has the edge on a couple of connectivity options outside of cellular network. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 comes with UWB (Ultra-Wideband) support and NTN satellite communication. While NTN doesn't matter today on Indian networks, it's great for future-proofing and emergency connectivity in remote areas. 

Has MediaTek Closed the 5G Gap?

Going by the spec sheet, the answer is no, Qualcomm is still the leader in mobile connectivity and it's already preparing for 6G with the upcoming X105 5G modem. As demonstrated in our tests, Qualcomm's 5G modem leads on peak download speed, idle ping and the whole wireless stack with Release 18 readiness and mmWave support.

However, in India, there is no broad mmWave 5G support for consumers and most of us spend our day in congested cells so those on-paper advantages don't look that big in real world. What matters is whether your phone can hold a fast connection in a busy area and offer a usable experience when the cell is under severe load. By those measures, MediaTek's 5G modems are definitely competitive.

And if we go beyond the Release 17 5G modem on the Dimensity 9500, MediaTek actually unveiled its next-gen M90 5G-Advanced modem at MWC 2025. It finally matches Qualcomm in Release 18 specifications and brings support for mmWave with up to 10CC carrier aggregation. It also hit a peak download speed of 12 Gbps and brings NTN satellite connectivity too. 

Image Credit: Beebom Gadgets

The only downside is that the M90 5G modem is currently not available on any consumer phone. It might be integrated into the Dimensity 9600 Pro. In addition, it's rumoured that the upcoming Pixel 11 series could use MediaTek's flagship M90 5G modem. If MediaTek delivers on those numbers in real-world conditions, the gap with Qualcomm will close on every front.

So, if you have been worried about buying a Dimensity-powered phone because of the notion that MediaTek's modem is worse, this test should put that to rest. It's worth remembering that modem development and mobile connectivity are a tough area of research.

Intel quit the smartphone modem game entirely in 2019 and sold its team to Apple. Samsung's Exynos modems have caused battery drain and signal issues on Pixels for years and that's why Google is reportedly dropping Samsung's modem for the Pixel 11. Apple, six years after buying Intel's modem team finally shipped its own C1 and C1X modems, but they lack mmWave support.

Sure, Qualcomm is still the leader, but MediaTek, a Taiwanese chipmaker, has shown up to the fight and improved its 5G modems rapidly in the last few years. Most importantly, it has stayed in the race that has chewed so many giants and I certainly think that's commendable.