Mediatek MT6735M vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AA vs Mediatek MT8735

Mediatek MT6735M

The 1.5 GHz MediaTek MT6735M is a 64-bit ARM-based SoC launched in mid 2015 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 MT6735M utilizes a slower graphics unit. Compared to the similar MediaTek MT6735, the "M"-version is significantly lower clocked (only 1 versus 1.5 GHz).

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 GHz and therefore the MT6735M is significantly slower than other A53 SoCs that are usually clocked at 1.4 GHz and up.

The power-efficient processor is still suited for low demanding tasks like browsing and running light applications.

Graphics

The integrated single-core Mali-T720 is an entry-level GPU clocked at up to 450 MHz. Most Android games will play at acceptable frame rates on medium resolutions and quality.

Features

The MT6732M 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 801 MSM8974AA

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974AA is an ARM-based SoC for tablets and smartphones. It is built at TSMC in a 28nm HPM (High Performance Mobile) HKMG process, whereas the Snapdragon 600 was manufactured in 28nm LP. In addition to 4 CPU cores with a clock speed of up to 2.26 GHz, the chip also integrates an Adreno 330 GPU up to 450 MHz, an LPDDR3-1600 memory controller and various radio modules (UMTS/LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS). Compared to other S801 SoCs (e.g the MSM8974AB), the MSM8974AA offers the lowest CPU-, GPU- and memory clock rates.

Processor 

The CPU portion is based on Qualcomm's Krait architecture, which is compatible with the ARMv7 ISA. Compared to the Snapdragon 600 (Krait 300), the new Krait 400 cores of the Snapdragon 800/801 have been tweaked just slightly with faster L2 cache. Thanks to a clock rate of up to 2.26 GHz and a high performance per MHz somewhere between an ARM Cortex-A9 and a Cortex-A15, the Snapdragon 801 offers very strong CPU performance. The S801 competes with the Nvidia Tegra 4, Samsung Exynos 5420 and Apple A7 and is therefore one of the fastest ARM SoCs on the market as of 2013.

Graphics

Another difference between the Snapdragon 600 and 800/801 is the graphics unit. While the S600 implements an Adreno 320 (400 to 450 MHz), the S800 /S801 feature the faster Adreno 330 (MSM8974Aa: 450 MHz). Both GPUs offer the same amount of texture units (8 TMUs), but the Adreno 330 has 50 percent more shaders (probably 6x SIMD16 vs. 4x SIMD16 of the previous generation). In conjunction with the higher memory bandwidth, the performance is significantly better. As a result, the Adreno 330 is slightly faster than the Mali-T628 (Exynos 5420) and the PowerVR G6430 (Apple A7). Depending on the device and cooling, however, the performance may vary. The GPU supports OpenGL ES 3.0 as well as OpenCL 1.2.

Features 

Furthermore, the MSM8974AA supports many wireless technologies: Bluetooth 4.0, WLAN, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz), GSM (GPRS, EDGE), W-CDMA/UMTS (HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, cat.29 DC-HSPA+), MBMS, cat.4 LTE, CDMA2000 (1X RTT, 1 × EV-DO Rel.0/Rev.A/Rev.B, 1× EV-DO Rev.A MC, 1× Adv Rev.A/Rev.B) and TD-SCDMA. 

The MSM8974AA can encode and play UHD 4K videos in 3840x2160 at 30 FPS (120 Mbps H.264 High Profile) simultaneously via dedicated hardware. Moreover, it supports both USB 2.0 and 3.0 and cameras up to 55 megapixels and stereoscopic 3D.

Power Consumption

Thanks to the new 28nm HPM HKMG process, the energy efficiency has been improved significantly compared to its LP 28nm S600 predecessor. Depending on the field of application, the maximum power consumption should be about 3 W for smartphones or 4 W or greater for tablets. This should be similar to comparable ARM SoCs currently in the market. However, the MSM8974AA will likely to need a little less power than the other S801 SoCs due to the lower clock rates.

Mediatek MT8735

The Mediatek MT8735 is a mid range ARM based SoC for (mostly Android based) smartphones. It was manufactured in 28nm and offers a quad-core processor with four ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.3 GHz. As a graphics card, the SoC integrates a ARM MAli-T720MP2. The integrated LTE radio supports CDMA2000 and a 5GHz 802.11bgn WiFi modem is also included.