There was a time when games and applications on smartphones were not very demanding and we paid more attention to the size of the display and the number of megapixels in the camera. At that time, processors had 1-2 cores and their speed was measured only by frequency. Nowadays, the basis of a smartphone is the processor, and it is on its capabilities that the shape of the smartphone depends.
Why is the processor so important?
In today's realities, it is the processor that determines what kind of smartphone you will get. The processor is responsible for literally everything: communication standard - 3G, 4G, LTE, camera power - the number of megapixels that the processor can process, types of satellites - Beidou, Galileo, Glonass, GPS, maximum memory size and even the presence of a radio in the smartphone. All this depends on what processor is in your smartphone.
Initially, manufacturers put the maximum possible technical characteristics into their processor, and smartphone manufacturers, as easily as possible, add bricks - a camera, memory, radio, GPS module. But if the processor manufacturer did not initially provide support for 4G or a 48 Mpix camera, then installing it in the phone simply will not work. The cube won't work.
Helio G70: budget MVP for MediaTek!
MediaTek has outgrown its Helio A-series and P-series chipsets that once dominated the entry-level and budget segments. The Helio G70 chipset, which primarily focuses on gaming performance, is a breath of fresh air in the entry-level segment in India. I mean, we have seen PUBG Mobile with Ultra graphics settings on a Rs 8,000 smartphone and it is amazing.
Realme is just an early adopter, but we can expect several phone makers to include the Helio G70 chipset in their smartphones. Well, Redmi 9A is expected to launch next week with this chipset and that makes me very happy. So stay tuned as next week we will introduce you to the Redmi 9A (whichever chipset it comes with).
Helio P70 - new processor with artificial intelligence
Helio P70 is one of the latest developments from MediaTek, which was released on February 18, 2022.
Unlike previous series, Helio P70 has built-in AI algorithms - artificial intelligence. These algorithms are used when you need to improve the quality of a photo by removing unnecessary noise or carefully stitching together a panoramic photo. AI algorithms are also used to optimize energy consumption in many applications running on a smartphone.
In general, the presence of artificial intelligence significantly expands the capabilities of a smartphone. He gets the opportunity to learn and tries to make your communication with him easier and more enjoyable.
Helio P70 is the top processor in the Helio line. The processor itself has good characteristics - 4 main Arm Cortex-A53 cores and 4 more small energy-efficient Arm Cortex-A73 auxiliary cores. The maximum core frequency is 2.1 GHz. The processor is 64-bit and supports multitasking.
It works something like this - minimum load, mostly using energy-efficient Arm Cortex-A73 cores at a minimum frequency, the load increases - increasing the operating frequency of energy-efficient Arm Cortex-A73 cores and, if necessary, connecting 4 main Arm Cortex-A53 cores. Maximum load - 4 main Arm Cortex-A53 cores and 4 auxiliary Arm Cortex-A73 cores operate at a maximum frequency of 2.1 GHz.
Artificial intelligence algorithms help select the optimal operating mode for each case, saving smartphone battery power.
Buy Realme 3 for RUB 8,600.
4G LTE WorldMode modem with the latest technology
MediaTek's latest generation 4G LTE WorldMode modem focuses on power-saving mode with the latest cellular features and standards.
Dual 4G SIM card allows you to use popular VoLTE and ViLTE services on any cellular connection. Compared to traditional calls, VoLTE and ViLTE provide the best quality of service, speeding up call setup and noticeably improving audio quality. Taking advantage of 4G LTE, the second SIM also provides faster data transfer, more reliable coverage and lower power consumption, and only meets the needs of 4G carriers.
MediaTek's innovative Transmission Antenna Technology (TAS 2.0) enhances the user experience by using the best combination of antennas to ensure optimal and stable signal quality with minimal power.
Supported RAM
The Helio P70 processor can work not only with the popular LPDDR3 RAM, but also supports the latest LPDDR4 and LPDDR4x. LP in the name of the memory stands for Low Power - memory with low energy consumption, which is especially important for smartphones.
LPDDR4 memory compared to LPDDR3 began to consume 40% less energy. Bandwidth also increased from 2133 Mbit/s to 3200 Mbit/s.
We should also mention support for flagship LPDDR4x memory. Its throughput is an impressive 4266 Mbps, and energy savings reach 60% compared to LPDDR3.
Helio P70 can work with 4 GB LPDDR3 or 8 GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4x. Thus, if you see a smartphone with Helio P70 and it has 6 GB of RAM, you can be sure that it is already LPDDR4 or LPDDR4x.
All these speeds will come in handy when you start shooting Full HD or 4K videos. The picture will be better as the processor will be able to process more frames per second. Games will run smoother and faster.
If we talk about the built-in memory, it will be important to note that the Helio P70 supports the eMMC 5.1 standard, which has a bandwidth of up to 600 MB/s and a write speed of up to 125 MB/s.
The speed of information exchange between RAM and built-in memory directly affects the launch speed of applications and the speed of their operation. This is especially noticeable in games, when loading or when loading a level.
Buy Umidigi S3 Pro for RUB 18,400.
Improved gaming experience
Improvements to mobile gaming include unique multi-threaded optimizations on the Helio P70, as well as an emphasis on reducing latency/lag in gameplay for a more responsive gaming experience. In popular games that place the highest load on the SoC, the Helio P70 delivers 7% better performance and up to 35% lower power compared to the Helio P60.
Communication standards supported by Helio P70
The Helio P70 processor is global and designed for use worldwide. That is why it supports all known modern cellular communication standards - CDMA2000 1x/EVDO Rev. A (SRLTE), FDD/TDD LTE, HSPA+, 2x2 UL CA, TAS 2.0, HPUE, IMS (VoLTE\ViLTE\WoWi-Fi), eMBMS, Dual 4G VoLTE (DSDS), Band 71
Including the latest LTE Cat-7 DL / Cat-13 UL. This omnivorous nature allows smartphone manufacturers to make devices for use in almost any region of the world.
Of course, Helio P70 supports at the processor level: Bluetooth, FM Radio and Wi-Fi. But there were times when processors did not support these protocols.
Helio P70 supports all Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac protocols. This means that there will be no problems with speed. Bluetooth supports the penultimate version 4.2 (Low Energy) - with low energy consumption.
Now let’s move on to the “sweet” part: support for cameras and graphics - games.
Buy Blackview BV9700 Pro for RUB 24,500.
Improved work with photos and videos
In photography, the new high-resolution depth engine delivers 3x faster bokeh performance. This allows smooth bokeh previews at 24 frames per second, while also saving 43 mA/sec of battery power compared to competing alternatives.
Supports HDR displays and HDR photography - The Helio P70 is a unique chip among its peers in that it focuses on real-time HDR capture, recording and processing. The chipset also provides hardware capabilities for processing images in RAW HDR format. Other HDR-focused enhancements include RAW multi-frame HDR capture and Zig-Zag HDR.
The Helio P70's MFNR (MFLL) performance has been improved by 20%, which means faster processing of JPEG photos. That's why you'll never experience lag when shooting a burst of photos. Additional hardware enhancements include a hardware warp engine used for Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS), saving up to 23 mA/sec compared to the GPU. There is also accurate AI face recognition with intelligent detection of the photographed scene (AE, AF and AWB).
Helio P70 graphics chip
The Helio P70 integrates the Arm Mali-G72 MP3 graphics chip. This is a fairly powerful solution, the only drawback of which is the tendency to overheat and throttling at maximum load. But considering that it is not so easy to load this GPU to 100%, this problem does not occur very rarely. Plus, with well-thought-out cooling of the smartphone, this feature does not appear at all.
Arm Mali-G72 MP3 operates at frequencies up to 900 MHz and supports resolutions up to 2160x1080. Therefore, you can safely take Helio P70 smartphones with a large screen, high resolution and enjoy modern games at maximum settings.
Arm Mali-G72 MP3 confidently runs all modern games at maximum speed, showing from 30 to 60 FPS in PUBG, Arena of Violator, BLITZ, Asphalt, Tomb Raider, Border Lands.
Also at the hardware level, codecs H.264, H.265/HEVC (playback only) are supported. This makes video playback smoother and significantly reduces battery consumption when watching videos.
Buy Umidigi S3 Pro for RUB 18,400.
Powerful and efficient Mutli-Core, multi-threaded AI processor
A multi-core APU operating at up to 525 MHz, combined with an improved MediaTek NeuroPilot, provides 10-30% more efficient performance in tasks with an emphasis on AI than is implemented in the Helio P60. This means that even within the same amount of performance, the Helio P70 can handle even more complex AI applications, such as human pose detection.
The platform is highly flexible and powerful and provides an extremely energy efficient resource that is ideal for smooth data processing.
Comparison of Helio P70 graphics chip with competitors
As we can see from the test results, despite the fact that Arm Mali-G72 MP3 is produced using older 16 nanometer technology, it is the absolute leader.
The reason lies in the high operating frequency of the chip. 16 nanometer technology is not as energy efficient as 14 or 12 nanometer technologies and the battery drains faster, but on the other hand, who cares if games run at maximum speed, but on other chips they lag or do not launch at all. In addition, numerous artificial intelligence and power optimization systems prevent the graphics chip from eating up the battery too quickly.
Buy Realme 3 for RUB 8,600.
AITuTu
Since smartphones today rely on artificial intelligence (AI) for a variety of functions, it is only natural for us to compare the AI capabilities of the MediaTek Helio G70 chipset. I mean, these days chipsets come with super powerful AI engines, but that's not the case here.
MediaTek claims that the Helio G70 chipset has “high AI performance”, ideal for AI camera tasks, but the above AITuTu benchmark result does not reflect the same. You can see that Qualcomm's AI Engine is way ahead in this segment.
Modern MediaTek technologies in Helio P70
The Helio P70 also implements the latest developments from MediaTek.
CorePilot - a smart load distribution and forecasting system controls temperature, prioritizes tasks, predicts energy consumption, increasing the operating time of the smartphone on a single battery charge.
Imagiq is responsible for processing photos and videos, making your pictures clearer, brighter and more beautiful.
NeuroPilot is responsible for the operation of the smartphone’s artificial intelligence system, which is used when processing photos, videos, activating the facial recognition system and many applications.
Pump Express - helps the smartphone charge faster, controls the heating of the battery and the power of the supplied current.
Pump Express Wireless is responsible for optimizing the wireless charging of your smartphone - even more energy, without wires.
Response Time Enhancement Technology - responsible for the quality of the picture on your display, increasing the refresh rate from 60 to 120 hertz, which makes the displayed picture smoother and cleaner when scrolling, watching videos and playing games. The technology reduces screen flicker by up to 50%.
Buy Elephone U2 for RUB 13,700.
Comparison of Helio P70 with competitors
As we can see from the table, the Helio P70 surpasses its competitors in a number of parameters - it has two blocks of cores, main and energy efficient, while at peak load all 8 cores are capable of operating at a frequency of 2.1 GHz.
The Kirin 710 has similar cores. In this processor, the main cores are even capable of working faster than in the Helio P70, but the auxiliary ones lag far behind - a maximum of 1.7 GHz. Due to more coordinated operation at a slightly lower frequency, the 8 cores of the Helio P70 take the lead.
The Snapdragon 636 trails at the very end, mercilessly draining battery power. After all, there are no energy-efficient cores, and those that exist operate at a frequency of only 1.8 GHz.
The graphics accelerator of the Helio P70 is more powerful and operates at a higher frequency, which gives a 20-30% increase in performance.
Buy Oukitel Y4800 for RUB 12,600.
3DMark
Since the MediaTek Helio G70 is a gaming chipset, I decided to test its graphics performance on the Snapdragon 665. I ran the 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme test on the Realme C3 and Mi A3. The result below shows that both Snapdragon 665 and Helio G70 are comparable in terms of graphics performance. Helio G70 displaces Snapdragon 665 by a small margin.
3DMark benchmark results: Helio G70 (L) and Snapdragon 665 (R)
Since the number of tests is not enough to give you an idea of how the game runs on Realme C3, we installed some popular games on this device like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9. Let's see how they perform −
Testing Helio P70
Numerous tests only confirm the theory. Helio P70 is faster and more economical than its competitors - Kirin 710 and Snapdragon 636.
The gap in some tests reaches 25%.
Overall, MediaTek was able to make the most of 12nm technology, creating a powerful processor paired with a good graphics accelerator.
Buy Umidigi S3 Pro for RUB 18,400.
AnTuTu (v8)
First, we have the AnTuTu score for the Realme C3. As you can see in the screenshot below, the MediaTek Helio G70 scores 191,731 and sits right between two of the most popular Snapdragon 600 series chipsets in the budget segment. I mean, the Helio G70 chipset is definitely more powerful than the Snapdragon 665, but it certainly doesn't match the Snapdragon 675.
AnTuTu benchmark results tell us that the Helio G70 and Snapdragon 665 are on equal footing when it comes to processing power. But the Mali-G52 GPU looks more complex as its benchmark results are higher than the Snapdragon 665 and 675. It ranks in the UX department in the AnTuTu test and is similar in storage and RAM compared to the Snapdragon 665.
Overall, you can say that the MediaTek Helio G70 chipset is more powerful than the Snapdragon 665 on paper.
