Chipmaker MediaTek launched its premium Dimensity 9300 mobile silicon weeks ago that will put on-device generative AI into top-end Android phones. Now the company is unveiling a new chip, the Dimensity 8300, that will do the same for more affordable phones.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because Qualcomm did the same thing last week by announcing the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, which likewise follows the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in bringing on-device generative AI to phones under the priciest premium tier. This converging investment shows how hungry mobile companies are to tap into the generative AI trend sweeping through the tech industry.
MediaTek didn’t reveal what phones using its Dimensity 8300 chip will be able to do in the realm of generative AI. In general, the company has been less explicit than rival Qualcomm, which boasted at its recent Snapdragon Summit that phones using its chips will be able to use generative AI to have much more intelligent assistant suggestions, video tricks and automatically expand photos beyond their original borders.
Both companies have touted the benefits of on-device generative AI compared with cloud-based solutions. Since the computation is done on-device rather than being sent to a data center, responses should come faster and can take into account personal information like behavior and location preferences that ideally shouldn’t leave the phone. Plus, it can work if users venture outside the range of mobile network coverage.
Read more: I Could’ve Used Qualcomm’s ChatGPT-Like Phone AI on My Trip to Hawaii
MediaTek also didn’t release generative AI performance metrics for the Dimensity 8300, but the company said to expect lower performance metrics than on the top-end Dimensity 9300. The Dimensity 9300 can generate an image using Stable Diffusion in less than one second and can run AI models with 7 billion parameters per second at 20 tokens per second. The Dimensity 8300 can support large language models up to 10 billion parameters.
Qualcomm takes a similar approach with its chips, as the company has said its Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 has lower generative AI capabilities than the more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip.
MediaTek said the 8300 has other improvements over its predecessor, the Dimensity 8200, including CPU gains of 20% faster speeds and up to 30% better power efficiency, while its GPU has 60% greater performance and 55% better power efficiency. The AI Processing Unit is the same as on the more premium Dimensity 9300, resulting in better performance for more conventional AI tasks like improving photos.
Other improvements should make phones using the Dimensity 8300 have longer-lasting batteries and connect better to accessories like earbuds and game pads.
MediaTek declined to share which phone brands have committed to using the Dimensity 8300 in its devices. The preceding Dimensity 8200 is found in the Vivo V29 Pro, Vivo V27 Pro and other handsets that haven’t had wide US releases.
