There was a time when the latest smartphone system-on-chip (SoC) launch was a major event, but in the past few years, generational changes have become incremental rather than dramatic. But with 5G-era applications such as next generation mobile gaming emerging, the SoC giants, such as Qualcomm and MediaTek, will be targeting a bigger step-up in performance again.
Qualcomm has unveiled its Snapdragon 768G, positioned a few steps down from its flagship 5G offering, the Snapdragon 865, but a couple of notches up from the midrange Snapdragon 765 (both of those made their debut in December as the first members of a family to support 5G-ready smartphone designs).
Meanwhile, MediaTek has taken the wraps off its new Dimensity 1000+, an extension of its Dimensity 1000 and aiming to steal customers from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon portfolio. MediaTek has been relegated to the mid-tier smartphone models for some time, but this SoC is aiming to compete with Qualcomm’s more expensive offerings.
Both designs make a big deal about their gaming prowess and the Chinese market will be important because of its high levels of 5G readiness and mobile gaming adoption. In that respect, MediaTek will look to seize a geopolitical advantage from Qualcomm – the latter has addressed many of its regulatory and licensing difficulties with Chinese handset makers, but as the US/Chinese stand-off intensifies, being the figurehead of US mobile technology capabilities will not be a bonus.
However, Chinese device makers will prioritize performance over politics, and one of the first adopters of the Snapdragon 768G is Xiaomi, for its Redmi K30 Racing Edition, the first public design win for the new chipset. This handset is set to cost around $280.
In terms of technical specifications, the 768G is basically a 765G with a higher clock speed – 2.8 GHz for the CPU, up from 2.4 GHz – and a claimed 15% increase for the Adreno 620 graphics processing unit (GPU). Notably, Qualcomm now says that adopters will be able to update the drivers for the GPUs, but the fact that this is being touted as a new feature just emphasizes how far behind the PC world mobile gaming stands. Desktop GPUs get almost monthly updates, as Nvidia and AMD try to wring more life out of their designs.
The Snapdragon 768G will support 120 Hz displays, whereas the 765G can only manage 60 Hz. This is still not as high as the 144 Hz refresh rate for the Snapdragon 865, which is using the Adreno 650 GPU.
The 768G and 765G options share the same architecture (eight-core Kryo 475 CPU, Adreno 620 GPU), with the main difference being the higher clock speeds on the 768G, which would be determined once benchmark and stability testing was complete. Those SoCs that can support the higher speeds get badged as the 768G, those that can’t are still 765G, a process known as binning.
That would mean the 765Gs are simply 765s that can hit the 10% lift Qualcomm was looking for – although binning conventionally works in the reverse fashion, where the lower tiers of a family are the chips that have blemishes from the production process, and so miss the top tier tests, but can be marketed as lower tier, less expensive products rather than wasted.
The Snapdragon 768G has a higher class of Bluetooth stack than the flagship Snapdragon 865 – 5.2, compared to 5.1. That’s a step up from the 765G’s 5.0 too. The 768G is also using the Snapdragon X52 modem, which claims peak download speeds of 3.7 Gps, with uploads of 1.6Gbps.
Meanwhile, MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000+ SoC does support 144 Hz displays. This isn’t exactly a killing blow for the Snapdragon 768G, as the difference between 120 Hz and 144 Hz is really quite hard to see in use, but both SoCs will look far better than a 60 Hz option in the field.
The Dimensity 1000+ uses the ARM Cortex-A77 CPU core for its ‘big’ core, and the Cortex-A55 for its ‘little’ cores that see the more everyday use. The 4+4 layout is different from Qualcomm’s Kryo 475 architecture, which houses one ‘Prime’ core (the fastest clock speed), another ‘Gold’ core (at a slightly lower clock speed), and then six ‘Silver’ cores for the everyday tasks. Our understanding is that the Prime and Gold cores are based on the ARM Cortex-A76 design, with the Silver cores being Cortex-A55, but Qualcomm’s documentation could be clearer on that front.
On the GPU front, MediaTek is using an ARM Mali-G77. Collectively, MediaTek is badging this as ‘9x Extreme Gaming Cores’. The GPU capabilities of the Qualcomm and MediaTek approaches cannot be compared directly as Qualcomm’s Adreno is an inhouse design, based on AMD’s Imageon IP, which Qualcomm bought outright in 2009.
The Mali-G77 is a 7nm architecture, which supports DirectX 12, OpenGL ES3.2, Open CL 2.0, and Direct3D 12. The Adreno 620 is a 14nm design, and from what we can determine, supports the same engines as the Mali-G77, but a slightly newer version of Direct3D (12_1, vs. 11_1). The Adreno 620 has a clock speed starting at 700 MHz, which is the same as the Mali-G77, but the Snapdragon 768G’s Adreno 620 is clocked around 880 MHz.
As for the first phone that will use MediaTek’s Dimensity 1000+, there are rumors that Vivo subsidiary iQoo will debut it in the Z1 handset, targeted at China and India. iQoo is a gaming-focused brand, and usually quite affordable.
High performance gaming smartphones might gain some traction in China, and other markets that are not as well served by games consoles. However, companies such as Asus and Razer have tried to sell so-called gaming smartphones in developed markets, but have had little commercial success – despite the impressive spec sheets.
This has largely been because the types of consumers being targeted already had easy access to a games console or a PC, which provides a much better user experience than a smartphone. For a multiple-hour session, a smartphone is awkward, less comfortable, and doesn’t have the same range of titles as consoles and PCs.
Mobile gaming has struggled, in developed markets, to shift the idea that it is only for killing time, while users commute or wait in line, rather than supporting a primary leisure activity. So, the emerging markets might be the opportunity needed to help move the needle, and these affordable but high performance phones are going to be a necessary foundation.