New MediaTek Chromebook benchmark surfaces with impressive speed

By Fionna Agomuoh Published February 6, 2025

Many SoCs are being prepared for upcoming 2025 devices, and a recent benchmark suggests that a MediaTek chipset could make Chromebooks as fast as they have ever been this year.

Referencing the GeekBench benchmark, ChromeUnboxed discovered the latest scores of the MediaTek MT8196 chip, which has been reported on for some time now. With the chip being housed on the motherboard codenamed ‘Navi,’ the benchmark shows the chip excelling in single-core and multi-core benchmarks, as well as in GPU, NPU, and some other tests run.

The publication notes that MediaTek MT8196 is an ARM-based SoC, that is likely a Dimensity 9400 chip reconfigured to work on Chromebooks. Typically, the chip is a flagship SoC run on smartphones and tablets, and it’s known for its speed. Its biggest competition are chips from the Qualcomm Snapdragon line.

In terms of other Chromebooks, the MediaTek MT8196 ‘Navi’ device has beat out all of the current fastest Chromebooks, all which run the Intel Core Ultra 7. ChromeUnboxed noted the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714, codenamed ‘Karis’ as an example.

The publication added that one hinderance to the MediaTek MT8196 chip providing the fastest Chromebooks of 2025 could be if devices featuring Intel’s Panther Lake release first. There have been no benchmarks of the SoC yet, so there is no way to know how its power will fare in the industry.

Evenso, Google is likely to begin introducing new Chromebooks in the spring. It will be interesting to confirm models and specs at that time. If the company keeps a launch cycle similar to what it did last year, it may host a Chromebook launch in the fall as well.

There is also word of a device codenamed ‘Hylia,’ that ChromeUnboxed has been tracking that may table a tablet form factor. However, the publication cannot confirm whether the Chromebook might run the MediaTek MT8196 chip.