The Difference Between Snapdragon And Mediatek

The Difference Between Snapdragon And Mediatek

If you are one of those guys planning to buy a new phone and you are really confused about whether to buy a phone running on Snapdragon or MediaTek chipset this post is for you.

As against what many of you think, Snapdragon and MediaTek are not just processors, they are called system on a chip or SoC in technical term. So what exactly is an SoC? It is a single chip which contains your CPU, GPU, cellular modem, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth modules etc.

Now if you are wondering why your old phone doesn’t support 4G that’s probably because it doesn’t have the necessary radio sensors built within its SoC. So it is important to know what SoC is used in the smartphone you are planning to buy. The two leading SoC makers at the moment are Qualcomm with its Snapdragon range and MediaTek with its MT chipsets. That leads us to a question.

Which SoC is better?-MediaTek Or Snapdragon.

To answer this question, we need to compare the chipsets and find out what’s the difference between them. Considering the CPU, both Snapdragon and MediaTek processes are based on architecture. It is an architecture that is designed primarily for low energy consumption, for example, a typical quad-core processor has two high power cores for high performance and two low power cores for low energy consumption.

Now you may be wondering if both chipsets use the same architecture what’s the difference? The main difference is that MediaTek doesn’t tinker with the architecture whereas Qualcomm modifies architecture to optimize its chipset for better performance and low power consumption.

Considering the GPU, Qualcomm uses its own Adreno GPU in its chipset while MediaTek uses Arms Mali GPU. Both the GPUs are great but developers usually prefer Adreno to develop and test their games, so some apps and games will not be compatible with phones running on MediaTek Mali GPU.

PERFORMANCE.

When it comes to performance. There is no comparison since MediaTek concentrates mostly in the budget segment whereas Snapdragon, on the other hand, is the standard chipset for all high-end phones. So how does Snapdragon chipset achieve high performance? The secret is heterogeneous computing.

Let me explain with an example, if we use the camera app on a Snapdragon chipset there is a separate camera module that processes the images and this utilizes less battery whereas in MediaTek processor both CPUs and GPUs are involved in image processing, this leads to more heat dissipation and faster battery drainage.

MediaTek believes in profit from volumes rather than bigger profits from selling lesser units. This is what has made the company the go-to chipset manufacturer for low-cost handsets, on the other hand, Qualcomm Snapdragon is all about cutting-edge technology and is a bit pricier.

Due to this reason, phones using Qualcomm chipsets are usually much pricier than the MediaTek counterparts.

So, finally which chipset is better? There is no simple answer for this, it really depends upon your usage and the price you are willing to spend. Go for MediaTek based devices if you are looking for budget smartphones. On the other hand, when your budget is higher going for a Qualcomm port smartphone is a better idea.