Modern-day smartphones endure a lot more abuse than their predecessors in the early 21st century. We expect them to perform fluently regardless of the tasks thrown to them. The processor is the one component that takes a good portion of this abuse to offer the best possible experience to the users.
In the present market, two competitors are trying to outmatch each other in the different price segments. Snapdragon and MediaTek hold most of the share in the smartphone market, around 60% of the total.
Here, we have mentioned the difference between the two chipsets to help the users decide on their next smartphone.
The House of MediaTek
MediaTek came as the budget alternative to the Snapdragon with some powerful score on the benchmarks. Imagine the cost-cutting when the same performance is being offered at almost half the price. Recently, the tech giant introduced the world’s first Deca-Core processor to smartphones.
The current best-selling processor finds the majority of its use in the mid-range smartphones courtesy of its cost-efficiency. Though, there were some heating issues raised by the users with the help of these chipsets. The current smartphone line has Dimensity 1000+ as the most powerful processor offered by MediaTek installed in them.
Snapdragon
The former leader in sales, Snapdragon is known for its use in premium smartphones from the industry leaders. To some extent, the sales of those high-end smartphones are boosted with the use of Snapdragon in the promotions. There is no doubt over its efficiency and power in a real-world application.
Price has been one major problem for smartphone owners, where mid-range smartphones dominate the market. There is a significant performance gap in the offering of Snapdragon in this price range. However, the advanced use of 5G technology is something they can brag about for a long time.
Processor Cores
The two SoCs use the same cores in the smartphone, making no sense to compare at first. However, we have seen Snapdragon adopt these new cores at a relatively faster pace than MediaTek. Still, the race to Deca-Core processing has the winner MediaTek with its Helio X20.
GPU
Snapdragon’s Adreno GPU is the most powerful chip present in the industry. The gap is quite substantial based on the benchmark scores by a majority of the platforms. This is the reason why high-end smartphones still have a Snapdragon SoC.
For mid-range smartphones, the gap is hardly noticeable. It is safe to say the SoC provider won’t affect the performance in this segment. However, the price difference is the reason MediaTek is dominating the range.
Price
The processor inside the smartphone has a significant contribution to its overall cost. Snapdragon chips are expensive because of the powerful performance offered efficiently. The manufacturer chose it for the premium smartphones for the same reason.
MediaTek is the preferred processer for the Chinese manufacturers in the mid-range because of the lower price. Their strategy has paid off very well since it has now dethroned Snapdragon in the sales numbers. You can use the money from quick student loans to get an affordable smartphone from either of the providers.
Battery Life
Snapdragon processors are more efficient among the two competitors. The industry is indeed leaning towards power with energy efficiency as the ultimate goal. Still, MediaTek hasn’t leaped in terms of energy consumption over the years.
Heating
Again, Snapdragon processors are less prone to overheating when compared to their counterparts. You can expect some intense gaming sessions without heating much trouble. For MediaTek, various new techniques are used to minimize its heating effect while running resource-draining tasks.
Overall Performance
MediaTek Density is an extremely high performing processor in the present world. It is being used by Chinese manufacturers including Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo for their premium phones. However, the manufacturers in the west still haven’t placed their faith in it for the more premium segment.
Snapdragon 865 offers 5G support while handling the heaviest of the tasks in a smooth manner. It lies somewhere above the benchmark results in raw performance to its competitors.
AI Capabilities
MediaTek has an advantage in introducing the AI Processing Unit earlier than the competition. Their current powerhouse, Density 1000 chipset is equipped with a six-core APU with one light, two medium, and three heavy cores. These cores are assigned with tasks to make the best use of available power.
Snapdragon 865 is at quite a distance behind its rival in terms of AI-benchmark scores. However, the company claims 15 TOPS of performance from its AI engine, whereas Dimensity 1000 offers 4.5 TOPS.
To Conclude
In the end, the better among the two depends on the primary use of the smartphone. MediaTek is recommended for budget smartphones or even affordable flagships for the users. However, Snapdragon is still somewhat leading the race when it comes to overall performance and capabilities.
