We have already seen MediaTek comparing MediaTek’s Helio 20 which is also known as the MediaTek MT6797 System-on-Chip and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810, which you can see here. MediaTek’s Helio X20 took the show away with its 10-Core setup of the CPU. Snapdragon 810 was faster in terms of RAM supported by the Snapdragon 810. Snapdragon 810 could support DDR4 RAM, but Helio X20 only supports DDR3. Snapdragon 810 was ahead in terms of connectivity as it supported LTE CAT-9 whereas Helio X20 was still stuck at CAT-6 LTE. Helio X20 was working with a Tri-Cluster setup whereas Snapdragon 810 was setup with a Dual-Cluster process. It wasn’t a fair fight, most of us looked at Snapdragon 820 competing Helio X20. This comparison seems fair enough between the two System-on-Chips. It is Qualcomm versus MediaTek.
So starting off, what is in Helio X20? The Helio X20 features 2 high power A72 cores clocked at 2.5 GHz and 4 mid-power A53 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz. It also has 4 low-power cores clocked at 1.4 GHz. The chip is featuring 10 processing cores in a Tri-Cluster architecture. The A72 cores will boost raw performance while the A53 ones will be more power-efficient. The chip was already rumored to be powerful enough to break 70,000 on AnTuTu. The Helio X20 will reportedly be built on TSMC’s (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) 20nm process and will come with a Cat. 6 LTE-A radio. The Helio X20 will have ARM’s Mali T880 GPU.
Coming towards Snapdragon 820, for starters, it has a Dual-Cluster CPU architecture, unlike Helio’s Tri-Cluster. Snapdragon 820 is built on 14 nm process and features two Kyro High Powered Cores clocked at 2.2 GHz and two Kyro Low Powered Cores at 1.7 GHz. It will be featuring the most advanced and powerful Graphics Processing Unit from Adreno that is the Adreno 530. There is support for DDR4 RAM and 4K Video Recording at 60fps. Snapdragon 820 will have LTE Cat-10 for enhanced connectivity.
Comparing both the processors we see places where Helio X20 is a winner and places where Snapdragon 820 steals the show. Starting with the process used for their built, Snapdragon is a winner as it is built on the smaller 14nm process. Coming towards the Architecture of CPU, Helio’s X20 has an advanced Tri-Cluster CPU architecture whereas Snapdragon 820 still has Dual-Cluster architecture. Helio X20 looks to be a clear winner in terms of raw processing power as it comprises if 10 Cores with clock speeds up to 2.5 GHz compared to 4 Cores with clock speeds up to 2.2 GHz in its rival. Snapdragon 820 has a huge advantage of having the support of DDR4 RAM, Helio X20 lacks seriously behind here. LTE Cat-10 support by Snapdragon’s 820 is also a plus point as Helio only supports LTE Cat 6. Both the SoCs have powerful GPUs. It’s difficult to declare a clear winner at this moment, as all of these specifications are just on paper. We have to see the real-life performances of both these beasts to test their might.