Qualcomm Adreno 306 vs Qualcomm Adreno 308 vs Qualcomm Adreno 330

Qualcomm Adreno 306

The Qualcomm Adreno 306 is an integrated graphics unit for smartphones and tablets that is used for mainstream SoCs of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410-series (e.g., Snapdragon 410 MSM8916). According the Qualcomm, the Adreno 306 offers a reduced power consumption compared to the older Adreno 305. 

The performance looks to be on par with the older Adreno 305 (at least in our review of a HTC Desire 510) leading to the assumtion that the technical specifications should be similar.

Qualcomm Adreno 308

The Qualcomm Adreno 308 is an integrated graphics unit for smartphones and tablets that is used for mainstream SoCs of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425-series. Like the other Adreno 30x GPUs, the Adreno 308 most likely also features 24 ALUs (unified shaders). More information on the architecture of the A3xx series can be found on github.com.

Qualcomm Adreno 330

The Qualcomm Adreno 330 is a GPU for smartphones and tablets that is integrated into Qualcomm SoCs. It was introduced in the middle of 2013 and was primarily used for Android devices. The graphics card uses a technology called FlexRender. It can switch "intelligently" switch between TBR (TBR Tile Based Renderer) and the classic direct rendering. It supports OpenGL ES 3.0 and is mostly used in Android based smartphones and tablets.

The graphics clock rate of the Adreno 330 differs from the used SoC where it is built in. It ranges from 450 MHz in the Snapdragon 800 MSM8974, over 550 MHz in the MSM8974AB up to 578 MHz in the Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AC. In addition, there are some architectural changes compared to the former Adreno 320 (e.g. more shader cores).

As a high-end GPU (in 2013) for Android based SoCs, the Adreno 330 is able to cope with even demanding games and high resolution displays. As you can see in our tests benchmarks below, the performance is similar to the PowerVR G6430 in the Apple A7 SoC.

We tested a Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 with a 450 MHz clocked Adreno 330 in a Acer Liquid S2 (see our review). The games run in 1920x1080 on this phablet and are therefore quite demanding.

Real Racing 3 was running quite good on some tracks in "high" settings (set with RR3 Graphics App) and stuttering on other tracks with many cars visible. In medium settings it ran fluently all the time. However battery consumption (25% in 3 races with a total runtime of 45 min) and heat development (max 42°C = 108°F) were quite high.

Fifa 14 and Angry Birds Go were also well playable although there was some slight stuttering visible in both games (may be caused by the game itself). Angry Birds Go also felt like running most of the times in lower fps regions.

The older but still demanding GTA 3 was no problem for the Liquid S2 as were less demanding games like Subway Surf or Temple Run 2. Especially the later two ran in high fps regions.