HiSilicon Kirin 659 vs HiSilicon Kirin 960 vs MediaTek MT8161

HiSilicon Kirin 659

The HiSilicon Kirin 659 is an ARM-based octa-core SoC for mid-range smartphones and tablets. It was announced mid 2017 and features eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores. Four cores can be clocked with up to 1.7 GHz (power saving cores) and four with up to 2.36 GHz (performance cores). The difference to the older Kirin 650 and Kirin 655 SoCs is the higher clock speed of the performance cores (2.35 versus 2.1 and 2.0 GHz). The slightly older Kirin 658 is very similar. The 659 is in our benchmarks around 4% faster than the 658 and offers a better LTE radio (Cat. 13).

Furthermore, a ARM Mali-T830 MP2 graphics card (at >=900 MHz), a 64-Bit LPDDR3 memory controller and a dual-sim capable LTE Cat. 6 (max. 300 MBit/s and GSM, WCDMA, UMTS, HSPA+) radio are integrated in the SoC. The processor performance can be compared with the older Kirin 930 and therefore sufficient for daily usage as browsing and non demanding apps. High-end SoCs with Cortex-A57 or A72 cores however should be noticeably faster. The SoC is produced in a modern 16nm FinFET process and is therefore very power efficient.

HiSilicon Kirin 960

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The HiSilicon Kirin 960 is an ARM based high-end octa-core SoC for smartphones and tablet, which was introduced with the Huawei Mate 9 in November 2016. Besides 8 CPU cores (4x Cortex-A73, 4x Cortex-A53), the SoC is also equipped with a modern Mali-G71 MP8 graphics adapter, a dual-channel LPDDR4 memory controller as well as an LTE Cat. 12/13 modem. It is one of the fastest ARM SoCs in the end of 2016. The Kirin 960 is manufactured in a modern 16-nm process at TSMC.

MediaTek MT8161

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The MediaTek MT8161 is an ARM based entry-level to mid-range SoC for (Android based) tablets. It offers four ARM Cortex-A53 processor cores (quad-core) that are clocked with up to 1.3 GHz. Furthermore, an ARM Mali-720 graphics card, a LPDDR3 memory controller (e.g., accessing 1 GB in the Lenovo Tab 2 A8-50), Bluetooth 4.0 and dual-band 802.11 b/g/n are integrated in the SoC.

The performance is situated in the entry level of 2015 and often similar to the Kirin 910T (see benchmark below).

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Model

HiSilicon Kirin 659

HiSilicon Kirin 960

MediaTek MT8161

Series

Mediatek

Codename

Cortex-A53

Cortex-A73/-A53

Cortex-A53

Series: Cortex-A53

JLQ JR510	1.5 - 2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 935	2.2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 659 «	2.36 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 658	2.35 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 655	2.1 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 650	2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 930	2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 620	1.2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
MediaTek MT8163 V/A 1.5 GHz	1.5 GHz	4 / 4	Cortex-A53
MediaTek MT8163 V/B 1.3 GHz	1.3 GHz	4 / 4	Cortex-A53
MediaTek MT8161	1.3 GHz	4 / 4	Cortex-A53
Marvell Armada PXA1908	1.2 GHz	4 / 4	Cortex-A53

HiSilicon Kirin 970	2.4 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A73/-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 960 «	2.4 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A73/-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 960s	2.1 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A73/-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 710	2.2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A73/-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 710A	2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A73/-A53

JLQ JR510	1.5 - 2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 935	2.2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 659	2.36 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 658	2.35 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 655	2.1 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 650	2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 930	2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
HiSilicon Kirin 620	1.2 GHz	8 / 8	Cortex-A53
MediaTek MT8163 V/A 1.5 GHz	1.5 GHz	4 / 4	Cortex-A53
MediaTek MT8163 V/B 1.3 GHz	1.3 GHz	4 / 4	Cortex-A53
MediaTek MT8161 «	1.3 GHz	4 / 4	Cortex-A53
Marvell Armada PXA1908	1.2 GHz	4 / 4	Cortex-A53

Clock

2360 MHz

2400 MHz

1300 MHz

Cores / Threads

8 / 8

4 / 4

Technology

16 nm

28 nm

Features

ARMv8-ISA, Mali-T830 MP2, Dual SIM LTE (Cat. 6), LPDDR3 Memory Controller

ARM Mali-G71 MP8 GPU, 4x Cortex-A73 (2.4 GHz) + 4x Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz, big.LITTLE), 2x 32 Bit LPDDR4 Memory Controller

LP-DDR3 memory controller, 1080p video encode, 1080p video decode, embedded GPS / GLONASS / BeiDou module, Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio support, ARM Jazelle, ARM TrustZone

iGPU

ARM Mali-T830 MP2

ARM Mali-G71 MP8 ( - 900 MHz)

ARM Mali-T720 MP2

Architecture

ARM

Announced

Benchmarks

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Physics

MT8161 +

8693 Points (7%)

Model	CPU	GPU	RAM	Value
Lenovo Tab 2 A8-50F	MT8161	Mali-T720 MP2	1 GB	8693

3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme Physics

Model	CPU	GPU	RAM	Value
Huawei Mate 10 Lite	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2	4 GB	11780
Huawei MediaPad T5 10	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2	3 GB	12893
Huawei MediaPad M5 lite	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2	3 GB	13310
Huawei Honor 7X	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2	3 GB	13372
Huawei P20 Lite	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2	4 GB	13387
Huawei Nova 2	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2	4 GB	14488
Honor 9 Lite	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2	3 GB	14780
Huawei P smart	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2	3 GB	14930

Model	CPU	GPU	RAM	Value
Huawei MediaPad M5 10.8 Pro	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8	4 GB	14456
Huawei P10 Plus	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8	6 GB	14934
Huawei Mate 9	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 900 MHz	4 GB	15104
Honor 8 Pro	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8	6 GB	15129
Honor 9	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8	4 GB	15150
Huawei P10	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8	4 GB	15341

Model	CPU	GPU	RAM	Value
Huawei Honor 7X	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2 Chrome 63.0.3239.111	3 GB	8684
Huawei Mate 10 Lite	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2 Chrome 62	4 GB	8694
Huawei Nova 2	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2 Chrome 60.0.3112.116	4 GB	8863
Huawei MediaPad M5 lite	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2 Chrome 67	3 GB	9249
Huawei MediaPad T5 10	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2 Chrome 67	3 GB	9293
Huawei P smart	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2 Chrome 64	3 GB	9698
Honor 9 Lite	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2 Chrome 63	3 GB	10250
Huawei P20 Lite	Kirin 659	Mali-T830 MP2 Chrome 63	4 GB	10788

Model	CPU	GPU	RAM	Value
Huawei Mate 9	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 900 MHz Chrome 54	4 GB	2734
Huawei P10 Plus	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 Chrome 58.0.3029.83	6 GB	3107
Huawei P10	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 Chrome 56	4 GB	3129
Honor 9	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 Chrome 59	4 GB	3149
Honor 8 Pro	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 Chrome Version 57	6 GB	3157
Huawei MediaPad M5 10.8 Pro	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 Chrome 68.0.3440.91	4 GB	3575
Huawei MediaPad M5 8.4	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 Chrome 66	4 GB	3734

Model	CPU	GPU	RAM	Value
Huawei P10	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 Android WebView 3.2.6	4 GB	7346
Huawei Mate 9	Kirin 960	Mali-G71 MP8 900 MHz Android WebView 3.2.6	4 GB	7565