Generic comparisons between different mobile chipsets | 2021

While buying cellphones, we often get confused while choosing between the different types of processors manufactured by different brands.

We often wonder which will be the best buy at a given budget, what parameters we should compare to make a verdict. Let us see some of the crucial parameters based on selecting a processor that suits your need and does not burn a hole in your pocket. 

Clock Speed

This is one of the most fundamental aspects to look at in a processor. It refers to the frequency at which one core of the CPU is running and can be used as a benchmark to judge the processor's speed. It is indicated in GigaHertz (GHz).

At this point, we can say; higher the clock speed faster is the processor. For example, Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 offers a clock speed of 2.0GHz, Kirin 970 by Huawei provides clock speeds up to 2.4GHz, Samsung Exynos 9610 runs at 2.3 GHz and so on.

Number of Cores

Next, we can draw comparisons by checking the number of cores provided in the CPU. CPUs with multiple cores can run multiple programs with greater ease. However, all cores are not the same. Often in multi-core processors, some cores are provided for carrying out a high-performance task, and a few are energy-efficient cores for running ordinary programs. It is to be noted that most of the applications cannot make use of multiple cores properly. Hence while choosing a processor, one  shall

look for the performance of single-core as well. For example, the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 675, an octa-core processor is equipped with two cortex-A76 processors (Kryo 460 gold), which is the performance core and is clocked at 2.0 GHz. The other six processors are cortex -A55 (Kryo 460 Silver), which are meant for day-to-day tasks and consume lower power than the A76 cores, resulting in increased battery life. Similarly, Huawei Kirin 970 has four Cortex -A73 processors clocked at 2.4GHz and four cortex A-53 processors clocked at 1.8 GHz. MediaTek Helio P70 comes with four Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.1Ghz and power-efficient Cortex-A53 cores at 2.0Ghz.

*Cortex-A76 is the successor of Cortex-A75 and Cortex-A73 and has better performance than the latter one.

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)

It handles the visual rendering elements of a phone display and decides the gaming performance of a processor. Essential aspects of GPU are its clock speed, maximum display resolution supported by GPU, and the fabrication technology, i.e., the thickness of the chip on which it is fabricated (mentioned in nm). 

The most common GPU's used in smartphones is Adreno from Qualcomm, ARM Mali, and Power VR. Let's take an example of Adreno 612 and Mali-G72 MP3 GPU. Both have a clock speed of 850MHz. However, the Adreno 612 is fabricated on 14nm technology compared to the 16nm technology of Mali-G72 MP3. Hence, Adreno 612 has a slight edge in performance over the latter one.

Modem

This determines the maximum download and upload speeds supported by the processor and is usually mentioned in Mbps. Moreover, it decides the Wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity supports. For example, Qualcomm snapdragon 675 houses the X12 LTE modem, which has a maximum download speed of 600Mbps (Cat 12) and maximum upload speed of 150Mbps (Cat 13). For Wi-Fi, it supports 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi standard with a peak speed of 867Mbps. For Bluetooth, it can support Bluetooth 5.0 technology. We will take a look at another standard chipset, MediaTek Helio P70. It has a peak download speed of 300Mbps (Cat 7) and an upload speed of 150Mbps (Cat 13). It supports Bluetooth 4.2.

Manufacturing Process

In general, fabrication on a thinner chip provides faster performance to the CPU. Hence a processor fabricated on an 11nm chip will have the edge over a chip manufactured on a 12nm chip.

Above are the significant parameters based on which you can decide which CPU to go for while buying smartphones. There are some other parameters like RAM speed and camera support, which in most cases can be taken as the higher, the better. And last but not least, the price matters a lot. Sometimes with a slight compromise in performance, you can get a significant price difference. So, consider all these factors while buying a smartphone to get a device that can fulfill your requirements.

image source: google.com