For anyone who’s followed mobile chip battles over the years, there’s something familiar — yet different — about this month’s AnTuTu chart. Qualcomm has done it again, but this time the scale of dominance feels almost absolute. Every single spot in the top five belongs to a phone running the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
A clean sweep for Qualcomm
The headline-grabber, of course, is the RedMagic 11 Pro+, a gaming-focused flagship that blasted past the 4-million-point mark on AnTuTu — precisely 4,132,403 points, according to the benchmarking platform. That’s not just a personal best for the RedMagic line, but a signal that Qualcomm’s newest silicon is in a league of its own.
This phone, designed unapologetically for gaming, combines liquid cooling, vapor chamber tech, and an internal fan spinning at up to 24,000 RPM. It sounds almost excessive — until you see what it achieves. Sustained performance under load, not just peak bursts, has always been the real differentiator for gaming phones.
Cooling, consistency, and credibility
Most of the other Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 phones — OnePlus 15, iQOO 15, Honor Magic8, and Magic8 Pro — don’t go quite as wild with cooling, yet they still follow close behind in scores. The difference between the top and fifth place is narrower than you’d expect, hinting that Qualcomm’s thermal management and performance balance have matured dramatically.
And that’s important. Benchmarks are notorious for being gamed or overhyped, but AnTuTu’s system averages results across many users over a month. That makes these numbers more believable — they reflect what people actually experience, not just what manufacturers cherry-pick for launch slides.
(Personally, I’ve always seen these results less as trophies and more as thermometers — not telling you who wins, but how hot the industry’s running.)
MediaTek holds the line
The first Dimensity 9500 phones aren’t far behind either. The Vivo X300 Pro (Satellite Edition), OPPO Find X9, and Vivo X300 all made it into the top ten. Still, none cracked the top five — a contrast to 2024, when MediaTek occasionally slipped ahead of Snapdragon in thermal efficiency.
That could change quickly. MediaTek tends to catch up in later firmware updates, especially when OEMs fine-tune for sustained loads. But for now, the narrative is clear: Qualcomm owns this generation’s early bragging rights.
Why this matters beyond benchmarks
What makes the 8 Elite Gen 5 interesting isn’t just raw numbers — it’s the way Qualcomm seems to be redefining the “elite” tier itself. We’re looking at silicon that’s optimized for AI-driven performance scaling, meaning it allocates power and thermal headroom dynamically depending on what you’re doing — gaming, streaming, multitasking, or recording video.
That adaptability is part of why early reviewers describe these phones as “calmly fast.” You don’t always see the speed, because the chip isn’t wasting cycles to impress benchmarks; it’s saving them for when it counts.
And while most users won’t ever notice their phone scoring 4 million points, they will notice the smoother gameplay, instant app launches, and cooler device temperatures.
Looking ahead
If this pattern continues, we may see the biggest year yet for Snapdragon-based flagships — not just in gaming, but across mainstream devices. The competition between Qualcomm’s Elite Gen 5 and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 will likely push the industry toward more thermally stable, AI-aware phones in 2026.
There’s also quiet pressure building on Samsung’s Exynos 2600, which is expected to appear in select Galaxy S26 models next year. Whether it can keep up is another story.
For now, Qualcomm isn’t just leading the pack — it’s lapping it.
Key Takeaways
- Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 powers all top five spots in AnTuTu’s November 2025 ranking.
- RedMagic 11 Pro+ leads with 4.13 million points, backed by advanced cooling.
- Qualcomm’s latest chip shows superior thermal and sustained performance balance.
- Dimensity 9500 devices remain competitive but trail behind for now.
- The new “Elite” branding marks Qualcomm’s strongest start to a chip generation.
