Mediatek MT6735 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 MSM8939

Mediatek MT6735

The 1.5 GHz MediaTek MT6735 is a 64-bit ARM-based SoC launched in 2014 primarily for small budget to mainstream Android devices. The quad-core processor is manufactured in 28 nm and is based on the Cortex-A53 architecture. It integrates a cat.4 LTE modem with CDMA2000 and an ARM Mali-720 GPU capable of decoding and encoding videos of up to 1080p30. Compared to the MT6732, the MT6735 utilizes a slower graphics unit.

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 MT6732 are clocked at up to 1.5 GHz and sits roughly in between the Qualcomm Snapdragon 610 (4x Cortex-A53 at 1.7 GHz) and Snapdragon 410 (4x Cortex-A53 at 1.2 to 1.4 GHz). The power-efficient 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 at up to 600 MHz (450 MHz likely). Most Android games will play at acceptable frame rates on medium resolutions and quality.

Features

The MT6732 SoC integrates a memory controller (32-bit LPDDR3, 6.4 GB/s), 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 615 MSM8939

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 MSM8939 is a mid-range ARMv8-based SoC largely for Android tablets and smartphones. Announced in February 2014, the S615 is one of the first 64-bit capable SoCs from Qualcomm. In addition to 8 Cortex-A53 CPU cores at up to 1.7 GHz, the SoC integrates an Adreno 405 GPU with a 2x 32-bit memory controller (LPDDR3-1600, 12.8 GB/s) and supports Wi-Fi (802.11ac), Bluetooth 4.0, UMTS, and LTE.

CPU

The Cortex-A53 is the successor to the very popular Cortex-A7 design. In addition to the new 64-bit capable ARMv8 ISA, the cores offer a variety of other improvements such as better branch prediction. This leads to a significantly higher performance per clock, which is even above the older Cortex-A9.

The eight cores of the Snapdragon 615 are divided into two quad-core clusters, each optimized for a different operating point. While one cluster can clock up to 1.7 GHz to handle more demanding applications, the other cluster is limited to a maximum of 1.0 GHz for energy-saving purposes. All eight cores can be active at the same time, although most applications aren't parallelized to support 8 cores efficiently.

Overall, the Snapdragon 615 offers a performance similar to that of the older Snapdragon 600 (Krait architecture).

GPU

Another new feature is the integrated graphics unit named Adreno 405 (550 MHz). The Adreno 400 series has been substantially redesigned and supports DirectX 11.2 (FL 11_1) including hardware tessellation, OpenGL ES 3.1, and OpenCL 1.2. Furthermore, the performance has been significantly improved, which is now similar to the Adreno 320 and PowerVR G6200.

Features

The Snapdragon 615 offers numerous wireless technologies such as Bluetooth 4.0 and WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/ac as well as a Multi-SIM cellular modem supporting LTE cat. 4 (up to 150 Mbps), WCDMA, CDMA, EV-DO, TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE.

The SoC can encode and decode 1080p videos using dedicated hardware and stream content to displays with up to 2560 x 2048 pixels. A large number of video codecs including H.265 (playback only) will be supported. The camera ISP can handle sensors with up to 21 MP.

Power Consumption

The Snapdragon 615 is manufactured by TSMC in a 28 nm LP process. According to the specifications, we expect a medium or medium-high power consumption for use in medium-sized or larger smartphones and tablets.