MediaTek Helio G36 SoC debuts to elevate next-gen budget smartphones with improved screens and cameras

The Helio G35 formed the basis of smartphones with profoundly standard-issue specs such as typically 60Hz HD+ displays, main rear cameras rated for 25MP (or often 13MP in reality) and as little as 3GB of RAM that currently go for about US$150 or the equivalent. However, MediaTek asserts that its new successor can offer much more at around the same price-point from 2023 on. 

The Helio G36 has upgraded to support for 50MP rear cameras and HD+ displays with an improved 90Hz refresh rate limit. Then again, a deeper dive into its specs reveals the same 12nm nature as the G35.

It is clocked at a maximum of 2.2GHz this time, even though the last-gen SoC could go to 2.3GHz on some of the same 8 Cortex-A53 cores.

The G35 and G36 even have the same IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU, although that of the latter is associated with newer MediaTek HyperEngine 2.0 Lite optimizations.

The G36 is even still rated for Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. Nevertheless, MediaTek points out that the newer budget-class SoC can bring up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM to the table, and can thus help make for an improved gaming-focused experience to next-gen entry-level smartphones. The OEM has indicated that the first round of these devices may hit the Indian market soon.