The fastest smartphone processors available today compared
The smartphone processor market is essentially divided between Huawei, Samsung, and Qualcomm. Qualcomm is a supplier to most smartphone manufacturers, while Samsung and Huawei also manufacture their own chipsets. We have compared the single-chip systems to show you the main differences.
Processors for smartphones always come as a single system on a chip (SoC). This means that several processor types are lasered into one piece of silicon, which significantly influences the working speed of the smartphone. The clock rate and the number of cores of the central CPU computing unit do not say anything about how fast the smartphone works in certain tasks.
An SoC consists of a CPU, graphics processor (GPU), LTE modem, multimedia processor, security, signal processor, an AI accelerator, and often units for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. This feature diversity makes it difficult to speak of the fastest smartphone processor, overall.
Top Android smartphones will have one of the following chips in the second half of 2019:
Flagship smartphone chipsets in 2019/2020
| Manufacturer | Qualcomm | Samsung | Huawei |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Snapdragon 855 Plus | Exynos 9825 | HiSilicon Kirin 990 |
| Launch date | September 2019 | August 2019 | November 2019 |
| CPU | Cryo 485 Octa-Core | 2 x Mongoose + 2 x ARM Cortex-A75 + 4 x ARM Cortex-A55 | 4 x ARM Cortex-A76, 4 x -A55 |
| CPU-FREQ (MAX.) | 2.96 GHz | 2.73 GHz | 2.86 GHz |
| GPU | Adreno 640 | Mali G76 MP12 | Mali G76 |
| AI processor | Hexagon 690 | NPU | dual NPU |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ad/ay/ax, 10 Gbps | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
| LTE | Qualcomm X24 Modem: Cat. 20, 2 Gbit/s |
Cat. 20 8CA, 2 Gbit/s | Cat. 21, 1.6 Gbit/s, 5G variant available |
| Production Process | 7 nm | 7 nm | 7 nm |
| Extras | Spectra 380 ISP, LPDDR4x | LPDDR4x | Dual ISP, LPDDR4X |
Almost all smartphone chips rely on the ARM architecture for their CPU. ARM delivers CPU classes of different strengths, which can be found in several variations in smartphone SoCs. The trick is in the composition and timing of the chips.
The situation is similar with the graphics processors. Qualcomm uses the Adreno to develop its own accelerators. Samsung and Huawei, on the other hand, use the Mali units from ARM. All are addressed by Android via OpenGL in different versions. The latest models also rely on volcano support. This makes the chips largely interchangeable from the point of view of game developers and their gaming performance is comparable in benchmarks.
You can feel a difference between fast and slow GPUs in Android when you start a new game with a really old smartphone. Unlike the Windows computer, the games (mostly) do not jerk. Instead, they present fewer details.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus
The Snapdragon 855 Plus was launched in July 2019 and now runs in some smartphones. The result is a slightly overclocked version of the Snapdragon 855. The processor is based on Qualcomm's cryo cores, eight of which clock at up to 2.96 GHz.
Unlike Huawei, Qualcomm still does not use a dedicated AI processor in its chipsets. The Hexagon DSP performs AI-specific tasks, but also serves as an efficient sensor hub in the background. The Snapdragon 855 Plus also features the X50 5G modem, which makes the Qualcomm chip ready for the next generation of mobile phones.
Samsung Exynos 9825
Samsung's in-house Exynos 9825 celebrated its premiere in the Galaxy Note 10 and features a total of eight cores that are said to offer 20 percent more power than its predecessor. The revised GPU is expected to bring even more performance gains.
While the predecessor was still manufactured in the 8-nanometer process, Samsung is building the new processor in the 7-nanometer process.
Huawei/HiSilicon Kirin 990
Huawei presented the Kirin 990 at the IFA 2019, premiering it in the Mate 30 Pro, which is not yet on the market in all of Europe. Huawei offers the Kirin 990 in two versions, one with a 4G modem and one with a 5G modem. Huawei has also refurbished the NPU. In the 4G version, there is a small and a large core.
The situation is different with Kirin 990 5G. Here Huawei switches to the Da Vinci architecture and uses a small AI core and two large ones. This should significantly speed up the corresponding calculations. Huawei loves comparisons with the competition. Of course, the Kirin 990 should be faster than the competition from Qualcomm or Apple.
Conclusion: the fastest mobile processor
The top chipsets in 2019 focus on different points. Qualcomm delivers innovations mainly in video and the modem and continues to use the Hexagon ISP for AI and other tasks. Samsung, on the other hand, specializes in the photo and video sector and has changed the production size. Huawei also relies on its local AI functions and supplies a variant with a built-in 5G modem.
To speed up your current smartphone, follow these tips:
ARM CORTEX HAS BEEN declined a Stage Position...all chips copy design from it.Cortex A7 ...is a real King.
You should have included MediaTek as well. MediaTek is giving a tough competition to these brands with high quality and inexpensive processors...
hate to say it... apple wins this one by a long shot.
that's true
The "fastest" doesn't really matter to me any more. Benchmarks, big whoop. Most apps run on 5.x and most people don't run complex 3D apps. Chrome, email, text, photos, streaming. Processor speed doesn't make a phone to me any more.
An interesting read but I would have thought that more processors would have been included. Such as some of the top chips from Mediatek, their x25 or x27 since those claim to be equivalent to Qualcomm snapdragon chip's.
As an Android bottom feeder with no use for and other things to buy than the best processor, my experiences with ARM and Intel have been quite good, but Mediatek on a recent tablet is a deal breaker. This mag would do some of us a service by benchmarking and comparing the processors available on sub U$150 devices.
All can say is the xzpremium is the fastest
The table in the article lists a percentage under each listed option. The percentage is labelled as the Android pit index. Since you haven't bothered to explain what this metric refers to within the article, nor how it is calculated, it's entirely unhelpful.
Hi Charlotte, I am a little confused. Right below the chart it says where the numbers are coming from?
Thanks for commenting - I can see it on my laptop! Was browsing on my phone on a train before and I must have commented before the page fully loaded.
Looks like Charlotte, Sascha, and Peter are the clueless amongst the group.
what about one plus 3t we all know that opls 3t is a lot faster than S7edge although I always buy samsung galaxy S series I've to admit that with almost have the money I can buy onpls3t which is in the top of benchmarks...S7edge is like 20th or even less..google pixel XL is also faster than S7edge, but it costs too much...onpls 3t is even better than Google Pixel XL less than have money price
Moto M has Helio processor. Now you can test and review it. MTK Helio P15 64-bit Processor