Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 vs Mediatek MT6737 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 (MSM8937)

Qualcomm Snapdragon 625

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (SD625) is a mid-range octa-core SoC with eight ARM Cortex-A53 cpu cores at up to 2 GHz, an Adreno 506 GPU, a DDR3L-1866 memory controller and a X9 LTE (Cat 7, 4G+, 300 Mbps down, 150 Mbps up) modem. Furthermore, the chip supports 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1. It is manufactured in 14nm FinFet. The processor performance should be similar to a HiSilicon Kirin 650, which also offers 8 Cortex A53 cores at up to 2 GHz. However, due to the modern manufacturing process, power consumption and throttling should be better with the Snapdragon 625.

Mediatek MT6737

The MediaTek MT6737 is a 64-bit ARM-based SoC announced in 2016 primarily designed for smartphones (mainly Android devices). It is manufactured in a 28 nm process and consists of four CPU cores based on the 64-bit Cortex-A53 architecture clocked at up to 1.35 GHz (MT6737T up to 1.5 GHz). The GPU is an ARM Mali-720 MP2. It integrates a Cat.4 LTE modem with CDMA200 as well as a video de- and encoder for 1080p30 videos (H.264 and H.265).

Processor

The Cortex-A53 is the successor to the popular Cortex-A7 design. In addition to the jump from 32-bit to 64-bit architecture (ARMv8 ISA) to address more than 4 GB of memory, the new design offers better branch prediction and higher performance-to-power ratio that rivals the Cortex-A9. The four cores of the MT6737 are clocked at up to 1.35 GHz and are roughly on par with the Snapdragon 410 (4x Cortex-A53 at 1.2 to 1.4 GHz). The processor is fit for common tasks like browsing and running light applications.

Graphics

The integrated single-core Mali-T720 is an entry-level GPU clocked between 550-650 MHz for the MT6737 (or 600 for the MT6737T). Most Android games will play at acceptable frame rates on low or medium resolutions and quality.

Features

Besides CPU and GPU, the MT6737 SoC also integrates a memory controller (1x LPDDR2/3 640 MHz / 733 MHz for MT6737T), multiple radios (WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS), and a cellular modem (GSM, UMTS, GPRS, HSPA+, HSUPA, TD-SCDMA, EVDO, and LTE Cat 4). Its integrated video engine allows for 1080p playback at 30 FPS. Cameras are supported up to 13 MP.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 (MSM8937)

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 (SD430) is a lower mainstream SoC for (Android based) smartphones and tablets. Contrary to the Snapdragon 630, it is still manufactured in a 28-nm process and also consists of an octa-core CPU part with ARM Cortex-A53 cores. However, they are only clocked at up to 1.4 GHz. The integrated X6 LTE modem supports Cat. 4 with maximum transfer rates of 150 Mbps (downstream) and 75 Mbps (upstream). The SoC also includes an Adreno 505 GPU with support for Vulkan and OpenGL ES 3.1. WiFi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.1 are supported as well. The memory controller supports LPDDR3 clocked at 800 MHz (so probably dual-channel DDRL-1600).