Snapdragon 8 Elite, Dimensity 9500, Exynos 1580, Tensor G5, A19 Pro… The processor (also called the chip) decides how fast a smartphone is, how it copes with games and how long it stays useful. But the names say almost nothing. Here is what the 2026 chips are really worth, measured on hundreds of devices, and which phones use them.
Figures are from 21 September 2026. The prices quoted are verified new offers in France on 22 September; they change often, so check them before you buy.
How we measure
We start from the Geekbench 7 multi-core score, published for every device in Geekbench’s public ranking, on a scale shared by Android and iPhone. For each chip we take the median of the devices that use it (tablets excluded), then turn it into a score out of 100 with the same scale as the performance score on Picksly pages. This score mostly measures the processor; it says little about graphics.
The chip ranking
| Chip | Devices measured | Median multi-core score | Score out of 100 | Examples on Picksly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple A19 Pro | 3 | 8 777 | 100 | iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone Air |
| Apple A19 | 1 | 8 297 | 93 | iPhone 17 |
| Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 | 3 | 7 686 | 84 | OnePlus 15, Honor Magic8 Pro, vivo iQOO 15 |
| Snapdragon 8 Elite | 17 | 7 620 | 83 | Galaxy S25, S25+, S25 Ultra, S25 Edge |
| Apple A18 | 3 | 7 584 | 82 | iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16e |
| Apple A17 Pro | 2 | 6 851 | 70 | iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max |
| Dimensity 9500 | 4 | 6 251 | 60 | vivo X300, Oppo Find X9 Pro |
| Exynos 2400 | 2 | 6 029 | 57 | Galaxy S24, S24+ |
| Dimensity 9300 | 3 | 6 025 | 57 | vivo X100 Pro, Oppo Find X7 |
| Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | 13 | 5 555 | 49 | Galaxy S24 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 6 |
| Tensor G5 | 2 | 5 414 | 47 | Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro |
| Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | 18 | 4 530 | 33 | Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 5 |
| Tensor G4 | 4 | 3 797 | 21 | Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro |
| Exynos 1580 | 1 | 3 705 | 19 | Galaxy A56 |
| Dimensity 8400 Ultra | 1 | 3 288 | 13 | Poco X7 Pro |
| Exynos 1480 | 1 | 3 225 | 12 | Galaxy A55 |
| Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 | 1 | 2 793 | 5 | Galaxy A36 |
| Exynos 1380 | 2 | 2 751 | 4 | Galaxy A54, A35 |
| Dimensity 6300 | 1 | 1 981 | 0 | Galaxy A16 |
| Helio G99 | 2 | 1 892 | 0 | Galaxy A15 |
Read with care: this is a median. The same processor can run a little faster or slower depending on the phone, its cooling and its settings.
What to take away
The very top: Apple and Snapdragon 8 Elite
The A19 Pro and A19 of the iPhone 17 lead, closely followed by the Snapdragon 8 Elite and 8 Elite Gen 5, found in the Galaxy S25 and most 2025-2026 Android flagships. The gap between these chips is small: all of them are more than enough for years of use, games included.
Last year’s flagships: often the best value
2024 flagship chips (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Exynos 2400, Dimensity 9300) sit in the middle of the scale, far ahead of new mid-range chips. Example found: a Galaxy S24+ (Exynos 2400, score 57) at €554, against a Galaxy A56 (Exynos 1580, score 19) at €359. An older flagship is often more powerful than a recent mid-range phone.
Mid-range and entry level
The Exynos 1580 and 1480, the Dimensity 8400 Ultra or the Tensor G4 have modest scores (12 to 21). At entry level, Snapdragon 6 Gen 3, Exynos 1380, Dimensity 6300 and Helio G99 sit at the very bottom, for example the Galaxy A16 (€269) or the Galaxy A15 (€189). A score of 0 does not mean “slow” for messaging, browsing or videos: it means the gap with the best chips is large, especially for demanding games.
What the processor does not tell you
The chip is only one criterion. Camera, battery life, RAM, the length of updates and screen size matter just as much day to day. On the Picksly Smartphones page, every model has its performance, camera, battery and memory scores with their sources, and you can filter by price and size.
Frequently asked questions
Snapdragon or Dimensity?
Within the same generation, both are close at the top: the Dimensity 9500 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite are near each other. The gap is mostly between ranges (8, 7, 6 at Qualcomm; 9000, 8000, 7000, 6000 at MediaTek), not between brands.
Is an iPhone faster than an Android phone?
On the multi-core score, recent Apple chips lead, just ahead of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. At the same price, recent iPhones also get a better performance score than Android phones of the same age.
And when a model’s performance is published nowhere?
Picksly estimates it from phones with the same chip, and shows it as an estimate, never as a measurement. Checked against measured phones, this estimate lands within ±10 points in 8 cases out of 10.