Technologies

MediaTek’s Next Chip Will Boost Low-Power AI in Next Year’s Top Android Phones

The Dimensity 9500 ramps up competition for Android phone chips.

MediaTek has unveiled its next big chip for premium Android phones, promising improvements for performance and AI operations.

MediaTek’s chip, the Dimensity 9500, debuts at a seemingly deliberate moment just days before Qualcomm is set to reveal its own silicon, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. While we don’t know the latter’s performance metrics, it will almost certainly compete with the Dimensity 9500 to run the most powerful Android smartphones. The first phones running MediaTek’s new chip will be Vivo and Oppo handsets launching in October for release in Europe, South America and Asia, but not the US yet.

MediaTek’s Dimensity 9500 has a mix of improvements over its predecessor, last year’s Dimensity 9400. Its CPU cluster has 29% higher single-core and 16% higher multi-core performance, while also drawing 37% less power. Moving to Universal Flash Storage 4.1 (from UFS 4.0) enables memory, like in RAM, to read and write twice as fast. This also leads to 40% faster loading for large AI models, MediaTek said.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

The Dimensity 9500 roughly follows the design of MediaTek’s last few high-end chips. Its CPU cluster features an array of Arm’s newly-renamed C1-series silicon: one Arm C1-Ultra at 4.21 GHz, three Arm C1-Premium at 3.5GHz and four Arm C1-Pro at 2.7GHz.

For gaming, the Dimensity 9500’s graphics processing unit has 33% improved performance and is 42% more energy efficient, meaning longer play sessions on a device before needing to recharge it. The chip also doubles the performance of ray tracing, a technology enabling realistic shadows and reflections in mirrors and water surfaces that often pushes GPUs to their limits. The chip can render graphics at up to 120 frames per second with ray tracing turned on, and also supports graphics engines like Vulkan 1.4 and Unreal Engine 5.6.

Given the aggressive adoption of AI on mobile, it’s unsurprising that MediaTek also boosted artificial intelligence on its new chip. The Dimensity 9500’s NPU 990 has a smattering of upgrades over its predecessor, with 100% faster processing for the smaller 3 billion parameter models often used on smartphones (which typically top out at 7 billion parameters). The NPU (neural processing unit) is also 42% more power efficient when running small AI models. Finally, the mobile chip is the first in the industry to generate 4K images with AI, MediaTek said.

For large language models, the Dimensity 9500 is the first mobile chip to support BitNet 1-bit, which leads to 50% lower power consumption of LLMs.

The chip’s upgrades to camera processing include support for 4K portrait videos at 60 frames per second, as well as slow-motion 4K video at 120 FPS with Dolby Vision video that’s optically stabilized. The Dimensity 9500 carries on its predecessor’s support for up to 200-megapixel cameras.

The Dimensity 9500 also claims connectivity boosts over its predecessor, including 5CC carrier aggregation that increases bandwidth by 15%.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Jan. 13, #1669

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Jan. 13, No. 1,669.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a little tricky, and it might make you hungry. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with G.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with O.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a spicy Cajun stew popular in New Orleans.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is GUMBO.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Jan. 12, No. 1,668 was TRIAL.

Recent Wordle answers

Jan. 8, No. 1,664: BLAST

Jan. 9, No. 1,665: EIGHT

Jan. 10, No. 1,666: MANIC

Jan. 11, No. 1,667: QUARK

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of uses. In short, you want starter words that lean heavy on E, A and R, and don’t contain Z, J and Q.

Some solid starter words to try:

ADIEU

TRAIN

STARE

NOISE

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 13 #681

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Jan. 13, No. 681.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

It took me a while to figure out the theme for today’s NYT Strands puzzle, but once I did, I thought it was a fun one. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: You need to chill

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Brrrr!

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

GONE, ABLE, TABLE, FOOD, TEEN, LEAF, GOOF, GOOD, SAFE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

PIZZA, SHERBET, POPSICLES, WAFFLES, VEGETABLES

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is FROZENFOOD. To find it, start with the F that is five letters down on the far-right row, and wind backward.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest.

#1: Dated slang. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook. Again, it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK.

Technologies

Anker’s Brand New Soundcore Aerofit Pro 2 Earbuds Are Barely a Week Old and They’re Already $30 Off

The AeroFit line has been one of our go-tos, and the brand-new Pro model is already easier to recommend thanks to a solid deal.

If you’re looking for earbuds that can keep up with your workouts, commutes and everything in between, the Anker AeroFit Pro 2 earbuds are worth a look. This brand-new model just launched last week, combining comfort, open-ear listening and active noise cancellation into one versatile package.

We expect big things from this new model — after all, the AeroFit 2 are one of our favorite earbuds, so this new model is bound to impress. Despite being so new, the AeroFit 2 Pro are already discounted to $150, down $30 from the launch price of $180. You’ll need to use promo code WSTDA3875US when you shop at Anker, giving you a head start on a top-tier open-ear experience.

What’s unique about the AeroFit Pro 2 is that the buds can switch between two forms with a simple adjustment of the ear hooks. That means you get both an open-ear design for breathable comfort and active noise cancellation for focused listening. Those same skin-friendly liquid silicone ear hooks ensure a secure fit that should stay comfortable all day.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

Sound promises to be equally impressive. The earbuds offer studio-grade 11.8mm composite drivers, LDAC technology and dynamic head tracking deliver immersive, theatre-like audio. Four mics with AI call-boosting make your voice come through crystal-clear, even in noisy environments.

If you want to compare models, take a look at our roundup of the best open earbuds for 2026, and the best headphone deals for more savings.

HEADPHONE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones (Black):

$248 (save $152)
Beats Studio Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black):

$170 (save $181)
Sony WH-1000XM6 Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones:

$398 (save $62)
Bose QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones (Twilight Blue):

$179 (save $170)
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless ANC Over-Ear Headphones (Black):

$200 (save $250)

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

You have the chance to get a brand-new model from a proven line of favorites at a solid discount. With versatile forms, premium sound and top-notch microphones, the AeroFits Pro 2 is a flexible, high-quality option for any listener.