Comparison of mtk and snapdragon processors. Which mobile processor is better - MTK or Snapdragon

Agree, when choosing a smartphone, its performance is almost of paramount importance. After all, you don't want it to be stupid when you play, watch videos or run several applications at the same time, right? Thankfully, in Lately processor manufacturers are doing everything possible to ensure that phones can process as large amounts of information as possible.

On this moment, the most popular processors are MediaTek Helio and Qualcomm Snapdragon; these major companies launched a rather tough fight in the chipset market. Also, Exynos chips from Samsung and HiSilicon from Huawei are quite well-known. True, the latter install them mainly only on their smartphones.

Let's look at several processor models from these manufacturers in order to understand which one to give preference to when buying a smartphone.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820

Despite the fact that Qualcomm does not have its own production, it has quite a few patents that allow you to design a good processor, and only then order its manufacture from any other company.

One of their most popular chips was the quad-core Snapdragon 820. Even Samsung (which, as you remember, has its own processors), installed it on the Galaxy S7 for the American and Chinese markets.

Perhaps the only drawback given processor is its heating, while its advantages include the following:

supports a camera with a resolution of up to 28 megapixels;

Processes FullHD video at up to 240 frames per second;

supports 10-bit 4K videos;

has a sufficiently high clock frequency ( maximum value is 2.150 MHz);

saves battery power;

shows excellent performance in the game.

Mediatek Helio X25

Mediatek, like Qualcomm, focuses on a different price segment. In the budget version, it was Helio X25 that got as close as possible to the top chipsets, apart from some nuances. In general, the processor is quite high-performance thanks to its 10 cores. Two of them (Cortex-A72 type) are capable of reaching 2,500 MHz clock speeds; the remaining eight (Cortex-A53 type) develop from 1.550 to 2.000 MHz.

The main advantages of the processor:

supports camera up to 32 MP;

has a high computing power;

differs in low energy consumption;

supports 4K video (but only up to 30 frames per second);

relatively low cost.

Of the minuses, it is worth noting not very high performance in games and the lack of support for Bluetooth 4.2.

HiSilicon Kirin 950

HiSilicon Kirin 950 is a fairly serious competitor to Snapdragon and Helio, even considering the fact that usually these processors are equipped only Huawei phones. HiSilicon Kirin 950 has 8 cores, maximum clock frequency which reaches 2.5 GHz.

The advantages of this processor include:

support dual chambers with a total resolution of up to 42 MP;

very high clock frequency (2.5 GHz is almost a record);

4K video decoding at up to 60 frames per second;

excellent energy efficiency;

Bluetooth support 4.2 and USB 3.0.

The main disadvantage of HiSilicon Kirin 955 is a weak graphics accelerator. However, thanks to this annoying little thing, Huawei provided it with 8 cores with a record clock speed.

The prevailing stereotypes do not always correspond to the truth, which is why it is especially important to dispel some myths regarding mobile processors.

To a question " Which mobile processor better?” must be approached in detail.

Of course, we do not choose a smartphone solely because of the processor, other stuffing is no less important. However, without a competent layout of the chipset and other components, even the most top-end and productive mobile processor can literally be useless.

We hope that our excursion into the world of processors and their manufacturers will be useful for you.

Terminology

Usually the concepts "processor" and "chipset" are perceived as synonyms, but this is not entirely true. Modern mobile processors are part of SoC(System on Chip), on which other elements are located.

Outwardly, the chipset is similar to old-style processors, but at its core, the chipset is a platform for placing components, some of which are responsible for graphics, sound, orientation in space, etc. and the processor itself is just one of the components.

For example, schematically the chipset Snapdragon 820 looks like this:

Which processor is better?

Answer to this question will be logically different for different categories of users.

Some users want to get the most out of their smartphone, using the device not only as a dialer, but also as game center. Cunning marketers have found a loophole how to attract the attention of just such an active type of user and at the same time save money - equip a smartphone with a 4-, 8-core processor, but with minimum clock frequency.

In this case, a non-specialist in the field of mobile phones sees a tasty line in the specifications of an 8-core processor and considers the device to be very productive by default. But in fact, a 4-core processor with high clocked cores will easily outperform some lower clocked 8-core processors.

But knowledge in the field of processor frequency does not guarantee correct selection gadget.

Hidden Features

There are hidden characteristics, about which information is sometimes very difficult to find.

Important is technological process on which the processor is executed. Roughly speaking, the technical process is an indicator of the size of transistors, of which the processor consists of millions. Accordingly, than less this indicator, more they can be placed on a crystal and so faster stuffing works. The process technology is measured in nm (nanometers).

At the moment, the most common process technology is 32nm. Some flagships, which are planned to be released in the next few years, will receive processors with a much lower technical process.

In particular, the processor is being prepared for release MediaTekHelio X30, the undoubted advantage of which will be the use of 10nm technological process FinFET from TSMC.

Besides, Helio X30 equipped with top-end cores, in particular, two ARM Artemis (2.8 GHz) computing cores are installed, which have already been called the main rivals of Qualcomm's Kryo cores. The chipset also includes the well-known four Cortex-A53 cores (2.2GHz) and the same number of Cortex-A35 (2GHz).

The first devices with this processor will be presented only at the beginning of 2017.

But this is just reference point, not 100% evidence of processor performance.

Specifications: de jure and de facto

A case in point is the iPhone 6, which received 2-core Apple A8 clocked 1.4GHz. Do not forget about another important factor - RAM. With its insufficient amount, even the top-end processor will obviously not be able to fully prove itself.And in the case of the iPhone 6, only 1GB ram. Modest numbers, right?

Especially against the background of many Chinese devices, it is an order of magnitude cheaper and with more attractive performance - for example, Xiaomi Mi3, who received Quad-core Snapdragon 800 clocked cores 1.7GHz And 2GB RAM it seems much “tastier” than the apple set in the paragraph above.

The myth about the importance of numbers in specifications will quickly dispel, one has only to try both smartphones “in action”. The secret lies in optimization.

Apple's software optimization is much better than Android devices, where the emphasis is on the attractiveness of numbers.

With quantity random access memory you should also be careful. The newer the firmware installed on the smartphone, the more voracious it will be. For example, starting with Android 4.2.X, the minimum amount of RAM to provide stable operation is 1GB, but already for Android 4.4.X, the starting value of RAM for full operation has increased to 2GB.

But even if the user has carefully studied the number of cores, their clock speed, the technical process, the ratio of the processor and the rest of the filling, evaluated the optimization, etc, there remains such a factor as peculiarities each processor.

We will talk about the individuality of some chipsets a little later, but for now, here is a list of top processor manufacturers:

Qualcomm- a company that deservedly received the title of one of the best processor manufacturers, however, the cost of chipsets of this company is usually overpriced compared to the pricing policy of other brands.

MediaTek- the main competitor of Qualcomm. Initially, the company focused production on the production of processors for budget smartphones, but at the moment the situation has changed - just remember the line of processors Helio. Strong advantage of the company - much more affordable prices on processors than Qualcomm.

Intel. The company's success in the field of mobile processors is an order of magnitude more modest than in the production of processors for computers. For mobile devices, the company launched the Atom line, which was distributed mainly to devices from Lenovo. There are a number of other smartphones hiding under their hood Intel Atom , but their number is so small that it hardly makes sense to talk about this series of processors as a serious contender for the two companies described above.

Samsung- a company that produces a fairly successful line of processors Exynos. But as with Intel, Exynos is installed on a small number of phones (mostly smartphones of its own production).

nVidia- the least known manufacturer of processors. Produced series of processors Tegra not in demand and installed on a very narrow range of gadgets. An attempt to enter the international market was made in 2012, when the manufacturer released a 4-core Tegra 3. But a serious flaw soon became apparent: severe overheating.

The most interesting is the confrontation Qualcomm And MediaTek. And for right choice smartphone, you need to know some of the features of the processors produced by these two giants.

Snapdragon 820- Qualcomm's sensational "hot" processor. The “hot” novelty was installed on a variety of smartphones - Xiaomi Mi5 Pro, Leagoo Elite Pro, Doogee F7, Elephone P9000, Meizu MX6, LG G5, etc.

Similar to the situation with Tegra 3, users are faced with severe overheating their favorites. Remarkably, the 820th Snapdragon was released as a replacement for the 810th, which is also prone to overheating.

This failure provided an opportunity for other manufacturers to prove themselves. In particular, one of the main competitors of the Snapdragon 820 is Exynos 8890. An interesting decision was made regarding samsung galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Smartphones are released in two versions: for residents of China and the United States, a version with Snapdragon 820, and for the domestic market and Europe, a variant with branded Exynos 8890.

AnTuTu scores show leadership in terms of performance Snapdragon 820.

But in multi-core mode Geekbench shows superiority Exynos 8890 .

Purchase price Snapdragon 820 is $ 70, which greatly affects the final price of the smartphone. Can be purchased for much less Helio X20($30), the performance of which is almost the same as that of the 820th processor from Qualcomm. Naturally, devices running MediaTek Helio X20 will be much more affordable.

That is why users should be careful when buying a device and objectively evaluate the ultimate goals of using the device: if your priorities do not include spending time with toys, then it makes a lot of sense to pay attention to smartphones with a MediaTek processor. Performed especially well MT6753.

However, MediaTek is gradually getting rid of the reputation of a brand that produces chipsets exclusively for state employees - the above mentioned Helio X30 direct evidence of this.

A few words about synthetic tests

The point is that the test results AnTuTu- just a rough estimate of performance, but not an accurate representation of reality.

The results of the same device often change after a firmware change. Also, an important role is played by the optimization of the hardware and software of the smartphone.

Often, manufacturers try to cheat and artificially wind up the values ​​in the tests. In 2013, a scandal broke out regarding deception Samsung in AnTuTu results. The company's engineers came up with a trick: when you start AnTuTu, the GPU Samsung S4 automatically switched to high frequencies(from 480 to 532 MHz), which is why the results improved.

In the same year, allegations of dishonest results went to the company Intel. Some analysts agreed that AnTuTu is optimized for Intel Atom, so the results in this test will be somewhat overestimated.

It makes sense to compare AnTuTu virtual parrots exclusively within the same platform. For cross-platform comparison, there are other applications, the most popular of which are Geekbench And GFXbench. In any case, you need to understand that the results obtained only approximately reflect the capabilities of the smartphone.

Conclusion

To the choice of the most optimal smartphone it is necessary to approach it comprehensively, relying not only on tasty numbers, but also understanding what is really behind them and whether it is worth the money.

It makes no sense to overpay for a top-end multi-core processor if it will be used only for basic functions. But you should not rely on luck that a mediocre chipset will master top toys.

Team b ad-android wishes you only successful and pleasant shopping!

Stay with us ahead a lot of interesting.

What is a processor?

If you do not go into details, then this is the central element of the system, which is responsible for all information transformations and controls the computing process.

The mobile version of the chip (ARM) is not much different from the stationary counterpart. The only differences are in size, power and clock speed.

The latter have lower figures.

All of them have achieved success in this industry, but the main struggle is between Chinese company MediaTek and American Qualcomm.

Qualcomm

The silicon giant was founded back in 1985. The company was engaged in the production of phones, GPS modules and wireless devices.

We will consider it as the largest manufacturer of mobile chips.

In 2005, they licensed ARM technologies by purchasing the rights to create the Cortex A8 core. Based on it, our own chip was developed.

The top line of chips is named Snapdragon.

These processors are installed in such flagship devices as Sony Xperia Z line, HTC One, LG G2 and G3 and some models Samsung.

But the latest top-end Snapdragon 810 chip has caused a lot of discussion. Some said that it overheats a lot, due to which performance suffers.

But this fact has remained undocumented.

8 cores, LTE-chip Cat 6, giving speeds up to 300 Mbps, support for 4K video, as well as sensors up to 55 MP. The figures are impressive.

MediaTek

They take not only quality, but also mass character, supplying products to all smartphones costing up to $200.

The most famous "stone", namely MT6592, installed on budget phones like Lenovo, in particular S860 and not only.

They were the first to develop a 10-core processor called Xelio X20. At the moment it is the most powerful single-chip system in the world.

Gaining more than 70,000 "parrots" in AnTuTu. Serially is not issued yet.

Specifications include 3 blocks of cores: 2x2.5 GHz, 4x2 GHz and 4x1.4 GHz. Mali 800 graphics and support for 2 13MP sensors. Support for Wi-Fi 802.11ac and LTE Cat 6.

Apple

Cupertino have always been famous for their closeness. Their unofficial motto can be interpreted as follows: “You don't need to know what's inside. Just take it and use it."

And this applies to all products of the company.

As for the mobile unit, the situation here is no less confusing.

It is only known that the company itself develops processors for smartphones and tablets, assigning them an index A and serial number.

In particular, A8 and A8X are considered the most powerful mobile stones. They are completed iPhone 6/6 Plus And iPad Air respectively.

Despite the 2 cores at 1.4 GHz and the M8 coprocessor, the performance is impressive.

Intel

Despite the fact that this giant leads the ranking of mobile processors for laptops, in the field mobile development he actually sits on the lava of spares.

Although the fact that smartphones equipped with Intel Atom chips are in high demand, it can be said that the company is making progress.

Now the strongest chip that is used in series has the Z3580 index. 4 cores at a frequency of 2.33 will give odds even to such "players" as Snapdragon 801 and Apple A7.

Specifications: 4x2.33 GHz, DDR-1600 support and proprietary graphics from Intel.

Nvidia

The situation with a company that is famous for gaming and overclocker graphics cards akin to Nvidia.

In their main field, they have achieved outstanding results, but the mobile segment did not work out.

In particular, Tegra chips have good potential, but leading manufacturers are in no hurry to buy processors in batches.

Yes, Nvidia hardware will be appreciated by gamers.

That's just the majority of smartphone users - businessmen, young people over the age of 20 and girls who are unlikely to want to "cut into Doom on ultra."

How will the 64-bit Mediatek MT6752 compare to the 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615?

At the time of writing main theme mobile market was the phrase "64-bit processor". This term was pronounced on every corner like a spell and was actively used by marketers to promote devices. 64 bit processor is important step, but not only because of the 64-bit chip, but also other additional features that it brought to portable devices.

There are quite a few 64-bit chips on the market today, but the most talked about are the Mediatek MT6752 and Snapdragon 615 from Qualcomm. Both chips are used in many mid-range and high class but which one is better?

This article compares two popular Chinese phone with 64-bit chips. On the side of Qualcomm stands, and the honor of Mediatek is defended by iOcean MT6752 Rock. Both phones were subjected to popular benchmark tests to find out which one delivers better performance. Before we get to the comparison and results, let's take a look at the specs and features of both processors.

The MT6752 has eight ARM Cortex-53 cores at 1.7 GHz and a Mali-T760 GPU, it has support for 4G LTE. The processor is capable of supporting a camera up to 16 MP, and video recording is possible in 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second.

In turn, the Snapdragon 615 introduces the industry's first 64-bit octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU. This chip has 4 cores at 1.7GHz and 4 at 1GHz. The Adreno 405 GPU can support screen resolutions up to 2560x1600 pixels and cameras up to 21 MP.

Both chips have their advantages: Mediatek seems to be more performance-oriented, while Snapdragon 615 is more focused on media entertainment.

Now we can take a closer look at the processors and their capabilities during the tests and see which one performs the best.

Mediatek MT6752 vs Snapdragon 615: Vellamo app

Vellamo started out as a mobile online tester and has since expanded into two main parts. The HTML5 part evaluates the performance of mobile devices while surfing the web, and the Metal part measures the single-core performance of the CPU subsystem of mobile processors.

Vellamo is able to evaluate scrolling and zooming, 3D graphics, video performance, internal memory, peak bandwidth and even more.

Based on this web test, performance appears to be about equal. This means that in scaling, loading, 3D graphics and video streaming, they will give clients the same efficiency.

Mediatek MT6752 vs Snapdragon 615: Ludashi app

The Android version of Ludashi is a performance test app for phones and tablets. With the help of 8 tests, you can easily determine the performance mobile device and compare it with others.

Ultimately, the results of the OPPO R5 are far behind those of the iOcean M6752. This means that the single-core performance of the M6752 is better than that of the OPPO R5, as the MT6752 scores almost double that of the Snapdragon.

Mediatek MT6752 vs Snapdragon 615: Gaming performance

Since both phones have a 1080p screen, their single-chip system should consume the same amount of power. In this test, the difference in SoC was determined using well-known games.

The iOcean M6752 smartphone is equipped with GPU Mali-T760. Output speed in main screen Need games for Speed normal, but the Mali GPU loses a bit in overall graphic clarity.

In turn, OPPO R5 has an Adreno 405 graphics card, which performed better overall. While smoothness and quality are excellent on both phones, the overall gaming experience on the Snapdragon 615 is as good as on the MT6752.

NBA 2015 is at that time a fresh game that requires the processor and graphic card good performance. The iOcean M6752 is quite fluent in the game, stalling only a couple of times, while the Snapdragon 615 really disappointed in this game. The processor had a lot of problems with gameplay, and overall the image looked sluggish.

Other tests:

Mediatek MT6752 vs Snapdragon 615: Conclusion

While both processors offer high standards on paper and seem like they can pull anything, the MT6752 in the iOcean MT6752 actually performed much better.

When using most applications, each of the processors is good enough, but when it comes to something complex, 64-bit Mediatek processor can "turn on the afterburner" and process heavy loads smart and smooth. It seems to me that Oppo made a big mistake by using Snapdragon 615 instead of Mediatek MT6752 in their device. Not only because the MTK chip is more powerful, but also because it helps keep the price of the phone down. This explains why iOcean is selling their phone internationally for just over $200, while Oppo's price is approaching $500.

If you have dealt with any of these processors, please share your opinion in the comments.

More recently, MediaTek was associated by most users with buggy Chinese smartphones, the rest did not say anything. But as time went on, the Taiwanese manufacturer became stronger, gained experience, and now their processors are already being installed in a huge number of smartphones from the most serious market players. But the American manufacturer Qualcomm did not stand still - their Snapdragon processor are recognized, occupying a huge percentage of the market. At one time, they even managed to oust such a giant as Texas Instruments. So on which processor is it better to choose a smartphone - on MTK or Snapdragon? We will try to give an answer in this article.

What do these companies have in common?

Both manufacturers, Qualcomm and MediaTek, are engaged only in the development of processors, and their final production is carried out at the facilities of TSMS factories. These are huge factories specializing in the production of crystals. Also, both companies develop processors for smartphones of all price niches, and the architecture of both ARMs (which is radically different from that used in personal computers x86). This is where the similarities end, which is remarkable, because companies are fighting in the same market, but they develop and promote their products to the masses in completely different ways.

Advantages and disadvantages of MediaTek

The Taiwanese company produces processors with a number of positive features:

• Huge amount of products. The company initially produced processors only for budget categories of smartphones, but the company is Full time job, because of which the lineup expanding every month. True, there is still no wide choice in the flagship segment, but a huge number of medium and budget models are offered;
• Extremely low price. Digging is best entrenched in the budget segment, since the price of their processors made it possible to sell smartphones at ridiculous prices. The cost of even the most powerful processors Helio does not exceed the price of mid-range solutions from other manufacturers;
• Integrated graphics. Most often, most MTK chips are equipped with graphics chips Mali manufactured by ARM. The architecture of graphics cores is a reference, thanks to which developers can easily optimize their games and applications for it, which is much more difficult to do with Adreno. By the way, Samsung also installs Mali graphics in its smartphones, so developers are trying to adapt games for it in the first place.

MTK processors also have a lot of disadvantages:

• Not the best configuration. In order to attract more buyers, while maintaining performance and autonomy at the proper level, the company chose a rather crooked path, which is why in practice the processors show far from the most brilliant results that are offered on paper. For example, the Helio processor uses 3 clusters of cores, the microarchitecture of which is different, as well as the clock frequency. 10 cores, of course, are easier to advertise, but in reality they turned out to be slower than the four energy efficient ones in the Snapdragon 820;
• Cortex cores. The company, for financial reasons, cannot improve the microarchitecture, which is why it is necessary to use standard cores in processors. This makes their products weaker than competitors from Qualcomm, Apple or Samsung;
• The hardware is poorly balanced. For example, the Mali T880 MP4 video accelerator has three times fewer active blocks, which means three times less performance;
• Poor developer support. This situation has recently begun to improve, but with MTK processor support, developers still have a lot of problems. This results in producers receiving late required drivers, because of which you have to install the old android version or release updates on time;
• Outdated process. MediaTek doesn't have the ability to invest in process development, so they rarely get the chance to run state-of-the-art production lines. Because of this, the processors are produced using outdated technologies, which is especially true for flagship models.

Advantages and disadvantages of Qualcomm

American processors have more significant advantages over MediaTek:

• Using your own kernels. It is based on off-the-shelf Cortex cores, but Qualcomm specialists are doing their own refinement in order to improve performance and optimize power consumption;
• Own graphics. For graphics processing in Qualcomm processors, its own subsystem, called Adreno, is responsible. Qualcomm is fully responsible for its creation, controlling the process from the first drawings to launch in serial production. This allows you to dock graphics and processor better than competitors do;
• Higher levels of autonomy. The manufacturer is trying to make its processors not only powerful, but also energy efficient, constantly working on this indicator with each new model. For example, after the 820 processor was replaced by the 821 version, it became a little faster, but at the same time began to consume less energy. This is especially interesting, because there are practically no differences in architecture;
• Work is also underway on the capacity of cellular modules. The modems used in Qualcomm processors are designed with the latest technology in mind. A striking example is LTE technology Cat. 12, which is supported by many modern smartphones, but cellular operators do not yet have such technology. Also, modems from the Americans support much more cellular standards than their Taiwanese competitors;
• Modern technical process. Manufacturer Qualcomm is trying to constantly improve production, all the time moving to more subtle technical processes. New technologies are first "run in" on the most expensive devices, after which more affordable products get into the new production.

But not without a fly in the ointment:

• A small number of solutions for the budget segment. The company is trying to produce high-quality processors mainly for flagship solutions, making them faster and more energy efficient, but budget smartphones is given much less attention. More recently, Qualcomm budget processors there were only three - 200, 400 and 410. By the way, their price significantly exceeds that of the Taiwanese manufacturer;
• High price. Since the company is constantly using modern technologies, improving production, then it is necessary to spend huge money on their implementation. Because of this, the price of processors is very high. For example, the Snapdragon 821 cost $70 in 2016;
• Complicated loader. The Snapdragon processor bootloader has a complex architecture. This does not affect during use, but restoring a smartphone from a “brick” state is much more difficult.

Results

It is difficult to finally decide which processors are better, both of them have a lot of advantages and disadvantages. For selection, it is better to group smartphones by price categories.

In the budget niche, the difference is difficult to find. Therefore, both manufacturers make good decisions that allow you to comfortably work with your smartphone. But the cost of devices on MTK is significantly lower. So the choice is clear here.

Middle class the advantages of Taiwanese processors fade into the background. Qualcomm is more energy efficient and has more powerful graphics. But in terms of performance, there is not much difference.

And in the flagship category, the choice is obvious - there is only Qualcomm, since it is he who is the leader in this segment on the Android smartphone market. MediaTek is still unable to provide proper resistance, even the top Helio model does not help. Moreover, the Helio X30 version will not use the most powerful PowerVR GT7400 graphics accelerator, which is almost two times slower than the Adreno 530, which is more than relevant today.