Processors from MediaTek: understanding the lines of mobile processors

Processors from MediaTek: understanding the lines of mobile processors

The Taiwanese company MediaTek is actively promoting its developments - their processors are equipped with many mid-range and budget mobile phones produced around the world.

Since the range of processors produced by this company is quite wide, we offer you a guide that will allow you to understand the capabilities and characteristics of the main ones.

5G chipset from MediaTek

Developers from MediaTek announced their first and so far only 5G chipset in May 2022. It is designed for the flagship segment of smartphones with an affordable price. This as-yet unnamed chipset has an M70 5G modem built into it. The chipset is created using 7nm technology and includes an eight-core CPU with ARM cores (Cortex-A77), a Mali-G77 graphics coprocessor and an AI crystal. Unfortunately, the chip will be put into mass production only by 2020. The fact that there is a modem built into this chipset is encouraging, as it will extend the battery life of the device, reducing battery consumption.

MediaTek Helio

The Helio series is the most common and widely represented among all MTK processors. It features both lower-line chipsets, like Helio A, and flagship Helio X. The most popular processors in this family are the MediaTek Helio P series processors, which are used in mid-price smartphones from its lower to upper limits.

Helio X Series

MediaTek was forced to pause work on its flagship X-series processors. This was due to the fact that the Helio X30 processor developed in 2022 did not perform as well as expected, although it still impresses with its 10nm design. It includes eight lightweight Cortex A53 cores (divided into two clusters) and a dual-core Cortex A73 cluster. The Meizu Pro 7 Plus smartphone was the only one adapted for Helio X30 and it is not yet known whether other devices running on this processor will appear. However, MediaTek has also produced other, more successful X-series processors: back in 2016, the X25 and X20 chipsets were released. The company is currently focusing on the Helio P family.

Helio P90

In 2022, MediaTek did not update the Helio X line. Instead, the developers began promoting the P-series. This year the Helio P90 processor was released. It was announced as the first processor from this manufacturer to use DynamIQ technology developed by ARM. It includes 2 high-performance Cortex A75 cores and 6 energy-efficient CortexA55 cores. This chipset was a step forward compared to previous processors in the same series, which used Cortex A73 and A53 cores. Interestingly, the transition to a 2 core + 6 design instead of the previous 4 + 4 ensures greater energy efficiency of the processor, without compromising its performance.

The developers say that this chip is the closest competitor to the Snapdragon 710 processor from Qualcomm. Quite a lot of attention was paid to artificial intelligence technology during the development of Helio P90. The chip, designed for AI tasks, operates at a frequency of 624 MHz compared to its previous version, which operated at a frequency of 525 MHz. In addition, the P90 has a built-in special accelerator that allows you to solve machine learning and image recognition problems. Helio P90 also uses the new IMG 9XM-HP8 graphics chip. This GPU is more than 50% faster than the previous Mali G72 MP3, which was used in the HelioP60 and P70, as well as in Samsung-developed Exynos 9610 processors.

The chipset supports Bluetooth 5.0 and work with cameras with a resolution of up to 48 megapixels. The only downside of this chipset is that it was announced, but has not yet been put into mass production. Meanwhile, its closest analogue, the Snapdragon 710, is essentially outdated, as Qualcomm launched the Snapdragon 712 and Snapdragon 730.

Specifications MediaTek Helio P90

• CPU: 2x Cortex-A75 2.2 GHz and 6x Cortex-A55 2.0 GHz
• GPU: IMG 9XM-HP8
• AI: APU 624 MHz AI Accelerator
• Camera: 25 MP + 16 MP or 48 MP
• Process technology: 12 nm

Helio P60 and P70

The most powerful processor from MediaTek in 2022 was the Helio P60. It was announced at MWC 2022. It is the first chip from MediaTek with an integrated AI task processing unit - a feature previously only available on the highest-end flagship devices. The presence of such a block allowed him to scan a face more quickly, recognize scenes during shooting, improve the quality of photographs and work with augmented reality.

The 8-core MediaTek P60 is roughly similar to the Snapdragon 660, it includes 4 Cortex A73 cores and four slightly less powerful, but also more energy-efficient Cortex A53 cores. In terms of graphics, the P60 has a Mali G72 graphics coprocessor with three cores. The Helio P60 chipset is capable of 4K video recording, Full HD photography, it supports up to 8 GB of RAM and Bluetooth 4.2. In addition, it supports a dual camera of 24 and 16 megapixels, or a single camera with a resolution of up to 32 megapixels. As you can see, it has some premium features. This applies to video recording and working with artificial intelligence tasks, but at the same time, it is not without its drawbacks - lower recording and screen resolution, as well as the lack of support for Bluetooth 5.0.

However, it remains a fairly popular processor for mid-range smartphones. The price range for smartphones based on the Helio P60 is quite large. For example, the Oppo R15 costs around $450, while the Realme1 costs only around $132. MediaTek has released an improved, faster version of the P60 chipset, calling it Helio P70. The main parameters and cores in it are almost the same, it works with Bluetooth 4.2, created using 12-nanometer technology, but the clock frequency of the cores is higher and reaches 100 MHz. The Mali G71 MP3 GPU is also overclocked from 800 to 900 MHz. Additionally, the P70 promises 30% faster performance on AI tasks.

Specifications MediaTek Helio P70: 04x Cortex-A73 2.1 GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 2.0 GHz, Mali-G72 MP3 900 MHz, APU 525 MHz, 24 + 16 MP or 32 MP, 12 nm

Specifications of MediaTek Helio P60: 4x Cortex-A73 2.0 GHz, 4x Cortex-A53 2.0 GHz, Mali-G72 MP3 800 MHz, APU 525 MHz, 20 + 16 MP or 32 MP, 12 nm

Phones based on Helio P60/P70: Oppo R15, Oppo A3, Realme 1, Realme 3, Nokia 5.1 Plus

Helio P23, P25 and 30/35

Helio P23 and P30 processors are 2 mid-range chipsets announced in August 2022. Both of them run on 8 Cortex A53 cores clocked at 2 GHz. They have a built-in dual-core MaliG71 graphics coprocessor. Both chipsets are created using 16-nanometer technology, so they are not too small in size and are also not so energy efficient. But, in any case, they are a step forward compared to the previous Helio P10 line. Helio P23 and P30 processors support up to 6 GB of RAM and a screen resolution of 2160 by 1080.

The P30 has certain advantages over the P23, as it supports video recording with 4K resolution and works with a dual camera (2 x 16 megapixels) or a single 25 megapixel, while the P23 is 13 + 13 megapixels and 24 megapixels, respectively. Both of these processors from MediaTek are considered approximate analogues of the Snapdragon 625 and Snapdragon 450 - at least in terms of the cores involved. But the processors from Qualcomm are created using a different technology and are slightly smaller in size. In addition, traditionally Qualcomm processors work better with graphics. True, developments from MediaTek are much more affordable.

The Helio P25 chipset, released a few months before the P30, is roughly similar - it also supports 4K video recording and includes eight A53 cores. The only caveat is its graphics coprocessor is an older generation: it is the Mali T880 MP2. Accordingly, it does not support Full HD+ screen resolution, only Full HD. The latest chipset of this type is MediaTek Helio P35, which was introduced in December 2022 in parallel with the Xiaomi Mi Play smartphone. It also runs on 8 Cortex A53 cores but is built on 12nm technology, supports facial recognition and is powered by a PowerVR GE8320 GPU.

Helio P35 specifications: 8 cores Cortex-A53 2.3 GHz, PowerVR GE8320 680 MHz, 25 MP or 13+13 MP, 2400 x 1080, Dual 4G SIM, 12 nm

Helio P30: 8 cores Cortex-A53 2.3 GHz, Mali-G71 MP2 950 MHz, 25 MP or 13+13 MP, 2160 x 1080, 16 nm

Helio P25: 8 cores Cortex-A53 2.6 GHz, Mali-T880 MP2 1 GHz, 24 MP or 13+13 MP, 1920 x 1080, 16 nm

Helio P23: 8 cores Cortex-A53 2.3 GHz, Mali-G71 MP2 770 MHz, 24 MP or 13+13 MP, 2160 x 1080, 16 nm

Phones based on Helio P23, P25, P30 and P35 : Gionee M7 (P30), Meizu Pro 7 (P25), Doogee Mix 2 (P25), Oppo F5 (P23), Vivo Y75 (P23), Xiaomi Mi Play (P35)

Helio P22 and A22

Helio P22 and quad-core Helio A22 processors are the latest developments from MediaTek in the entry-level segment. They were announced at the end of 2022. P22, as the name suggests, is slightly weaker than P23, and the A22 chipset is the first processor in the company’s new A line. It became a kind of rebranding of quad-core chips from MediaTek. Both chipsets are built on 12-nanometer technology and offer quite good parameters: support for a camera with a resolution of 21 megapixels or a dual camera 13+ 8 megapixels, a maximum screen resolution of 1600 by 720, Bluetooth 5, and also promise to process some artificial intelligence tasks. This applies to face recognition and blur effects in the picture.

The difference between the P22 and the A22 is that it offers 8 Cortex A53 cores clocked at 2GHz and a PowerVR GE8320 GPU, while the A22 only offers 4 cores and an unnamed PowerVR GPU. MediaTek claims that the P22 is an approximate equivalent of the Snapdragon 450 chip. Phones that use the P22 chipset are on the market in the price category of around $124, such as the Redmi 6 (generally $150-$200). The A22 chipset is designed for the lower line of smartphones, it powers the Redmi 6a, the price category of which ranges around $100.

Helio P22 specifications: 8 cores Cortex-A53 2 GHz, PowerVR GE8320 650 MHz, 21 MP or 13+8 MP, 1600 x 720, Dual 4G SIM, 12 nm

Helio A22: 4 cores Cortex-A53 2 GHz, PowerVR GE, 21 MP, 13+8 MP, 1600 x 720, Dual 4G SIM, 12 nm

MediaTek MT

MediaTek offers many other processors, not only the P series, which we have already reviewed, but also many chips labeled MTxxxx, followed by a variety of numbers. The most popular of them is the MT675x series of eight-core processors. In addition, the MT673x series is represented quite widely - these are quad-core processors that are designed for the simplest basic-level smartphones.

MT675x

The MT6750 chipset was released in 2016 and is an analogue of the Snapdragon 430. They are similar not only in structure, but also in performance - these processors show approximately the same results in benchmarks. MT6750 is built on the basis of 8 Cortex A53 cores (4 with a clock frequency of 1.5 GHz and four with a frequency of 1 GHz). This chipset has a built-in Mali T860 MP2 graphics coprocessor. MT6750 is created using 28-nanometer technology and supports a screen resolution of 1280 by 720, plus up to 4 GB of RAM. The only difference with Snapdragon 430 is that the competitor supports Full HD screens. Not long ago, MediaTek announced the MT6755S processor, which some sources called Helio P18. Its advantage is a higher frequency of the graphics processor, as well as support for a Full HD screen. In addition, MediaTek offers two more chipsets in this series - MT6752 and MT6753. In general, all of the above chipsets are designed for smartphones in the price category up to $200.

MT6750 characteristics: 8 Cortex-A53 cores, 4 with a frequency of 1 GHz and 4 with a frequency of 1.5 GHz, Mali-T860 MP2 520 MHz, 20 MP, 1280 x 720, 28 nm

MT6755S : 8 cores Cortex-A53 2 GHz, Mali-T860 MP2 800 MHz, 21 MP MP, 2160 x 1080, 28 nm

MT6753 : 8 Cortex-A53 cores, 4 with a frequency of 1.5 GHz, 4 with a frequency of 1.3 GHz, Mali-T720 MP4 600 MHz, 16 MP, 1920 x 1080, 28 nm

MT6752 : 8 cores Cortex-A53 1.7 GHz, Mali-T760 MP2 700 MHz, 16 MP, 1920 x 1080, 28 nm

Phones based on MT675x series : LG K10 2017 (MT6750), LG X Power 2 (MT6750), Asus Zenfone 3S Max (MT6750), Nokia 3.1 (MT6750), Nokia 5.1 (MT6755S), Sony Xperia C5 Ultra (MT6752)

MT673x

MediaTek also has the MT673x line, which includes the MT6732, MT6735 and some others chipsets. They are designed for entry-level smartphones. All of them are quad-core, built on Cortex A53 cores. Naturally, you shouldn’t expect high performance from them, fast downloading files from the Internet or high-speed photography. Moreover, devices based on these processors should not be expected to work with complex graphics and run hi-end games. We can consider them analogues of the Snapdragon 400 line. This series is used in smartphones whose price category does not exceed $150.

MT6739 specifications: 4 cores Cortex-A53 1.5 GHz, PowerVR GE8100 570 MHz, 13 MP, 1440 x 720, 28 nm

MT6738 : 4 cores Cortex-A53 1.5 GHz, Mali-T860 MP2 350 MHz, 13 MMP, 1280 x 720, 28 nm

MT6737T : 4 cores Cortex-A531.5GhzMali-T720 MP2 600 MHz, 13 MP, 1920 x 1080, 28 nm

MT6737 : 4 cores Cortex-A53 from 1.1 to 1.3 GHz, Mali-T720 550-650 MHz, 13 MP, 1280 x 720, 28 nm

MT6735 : 4 cores Cortex-A53 1.3 GHz, Mali-T880 MP2 1 GHz, 13 MP, 1280 x 720, 28 nm

MT6732 : 4 cores Cortex-A53 1.5 GHz, Mali-T760 500 MHz, 13 MP, 1280 x 720, 28 nm

Phones based on MT673x : Sony Xperia E4g (MT6732), LG X Power (MT6735), Moto E4 (MT6737), Alcatel 1X (MT6739), Huawei Y5 Prime 2022 (MT6739)

What to expect from MediaTek?

At the moment, their latest development is the Helio P90 chipset, which has a separate chip built into it for working with artificial intelligence tasks. In terms of its characteristics, it defeats similar developments from Huawei and Qualcomm in the budget segment. It is not yet known what the future plans of the developers from this company are - will they continue to mainly work on processors in the budget segment or, perhaps, will return to the flagship segment. It would be interesting to see a competition between Qualcomm and MediaTek in this area.

Unfortunately, MediaTek does not have a very good reputation in terms of updates - this is the reason why smartphones based on MediaTek processors receive software updates quite late or do not receive them at all.
I would like to believe that the situation will change in the near future and updates will become more regular. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss new videos about mobile games Subscribe

Snapdragon or MediaTek - which smartphone processor is better in 2022?

Each instance of Snapdragon 870 costs device manufacturers at least $50. In this regard, devices equipped with such a chip cannot be cheap. But they allow you to perform a variety of tasks. If you so desire, you can even do video editing. And games using such a chip run with maximum graphics settings. However, MediaTek Dimensity 1100 is not far behind in this regard.

So that you understand, processors allow you to turn the graphics settings to the “Ultra” position. Even then, you'll be looking at 60 to 100 frames per second, which is more than many displays are capable of. At least, these numbers are observed in Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, World of Tanks Blitz and many other games. Serious fps drops with these graphics settings occur only in Genshin Impact and Fortnite.

Both chips were announced in January 2022. They consist of eight cores. The technology used to manufacture Snapdragon and Dimensity

7 and 6 nm respectively. The second processor is therefore slightly more energy efficient. And practice really shows that smartphones that have them, provided they have an AMOLED screen, require connecting a charger a little less often.

The design of both chips is different. Qualcomm has made just one core the most productive. But how much! Its clock speed can reach an incredible 3200 MHz. Three cores are also not particularly weak, their frequency can be 2420 MHz. And only the remaining four cores are not of extreme importance. As for the MediaTek product, it is much simpler. Half of its cores operate at 2600 MHz, and the other half at 2000 MHz. Because of this, this chip is less powerful than its competitor. However, the difference is small. If it can be noticed, it is only when directly comparing two smartphones, when absolutely identical tasks are performed.

These chips can recognize up to 16 GB of RAM

. This means that mobile device manufacturers will continue to use them for a very long time. This is also evidenced by support for 5G networks, which still has not become fully relevant. The Qualcomm processor is capable of squeezing the most out of LTE by intelligently aggregating frequencies, thereby achieving very high speeds. And both chips can work in a Wi-Fi 6 network, which may prompt the smartphone owner to buy a new router.

If we talk about multimedia, it’s not for nothing that the chips turned out to be so productive. They are capable of processing data streams from almost any camera

. However, Snapdragon’s advantage is also observed here. Its competitor only supports a 108-megapixel main camera, while Qualcomm will allow the chip to be placed in a smartphone with a 200-megapixel module when one is developed. And in terms of video shooting, this company’s processor looks more interesting, since it is capable of recording images in 8K resolution, albeit at a frequency of no more than 30 frames/s.

Snapdragon vs Mediatek, chips for flagship smartphones. Who is the winner? Alas, the lag of the Taiwanese company’s product is most noticeable here. It is not surprising that not the largest number of devices are equipped with it - only Vivo S10, Xiaomi Poco X3 GT and Realme Q3 Pro come to mind. The chip from Qualcomm imposes fewer restrictions on the manufacturer, and therefore it can be found in a wide variety of smartphones - Oppo Find X3, Vivo X60 Pro, Xiaomi Mi 10S, Moto G100 and many others.

Is it worth buying smartphones with a MediaTek processor?

First, a little Samsung...

From a cheap and unknown SoC manufacturer, MediaTek can become a leader in the production of chips for mobile devices. Samsung is going to introduce its smartphones in 2022 on a new platform for itself - MediaTek. This move could, in theory, give consumers devices at an even more attractive price, but from a well-known brand. There are many large and well-known companies that use MediaTek SoC when developing their smartphones, for example, such companies include Meizu, Sony, HTC, LG. If earlier MediaTek was criticized for the extremely low performance of its solutions, now the performance of MediaTek chips is equal to Qualcomm, and in some tests, even higher.

Look how many smartphones are made on the MediaTek chip, even such famous ones as Sony. Example screenshot from Yandex Market

Personally, I use the Meizu M2 Mini phone and I have no complaints about the performance of the MediaTek 6735 processor. Everything works quickly and smoothly. Among the disadvantages of solutions from MediaTek is the use of chips with extremely low performance. For example, MediaTek 6580, 6582. They are used in those devices for which they are, in principle, not suitable. In addition, MediaTek, in my opinion, has one problem - updates. The fact is that updating Android primarily depends on the availability of drivers from the chip manufacturer, and they usually don’t have them.

If you decide right now to buy a smartphone with a MediaTek chip, then pay attention to the fact that it is fresh, that is, it should start with MT67XX and not have a P prefix. MT65 versions are already obsolete. They could still be used in Android 4.4, but they are not intended for Android 5.1 and higher.

Always remember that in addition to top-end devices, for example from Meizu, they make outright slag on MediaTek processors, for 2-3 thousand rubles, which will not even work normally. Is it worth buying such devices from MediaTek? It’s unlikely, especially if you can pay a little extra, and if this is not possible, it’s better not to buy anything at all.

In addition, please note that very often some MT6735 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 are offered for the same price. The latest SoC has never worked properly on the Android operating system, and its updated 210th version is also not famous for its performance.

PS The first rumors about cooperation between MediaTek and Samsung appeared in March of this year. This week, MediaTek management confirmed this information, citing the fact that Samsung is already a client of MediaTek.