MediaTek MT8161 vs NXP i.MX 6SLL vs HiSilicon Kirin 650

MediaTek MT8161

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).

NXP i.MX 6SLL

The NXP i.MX 6SLL or i.MX6SLL (i.MX 6 Series, MCIMX6V7DVN10AB Part Number) is a single core processor for e-readers. It integrates a single ARM Cortex-A9 processor core clocked at up to 1 GHz and a 2D graphics accelerator called Pixel Processor PXP (including E-INK display controller EPDC with support of up to 2332x1650 and 5-bit greyscale). The integrated memory controller supports up to 400 MHz LPDDR2 or LPDDR3 (32-bit interface). Flash memory can be attached using eMMC 5.0 or SD 3.0 (three connections available). Furthermore, the SoC supports 2x USB 2.0 OTH with PHY. The chip is pin-compatible with the i.MX 6SoloLite which features an additional Vivante GC320 graphics card. WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS or other peripherals have to be connected with external chips.

HiSilicon Kirin 650

The HiSilicon Kirin 650 is an ARM-based octa-core SoC for mid-range smartphones and tablets. It was announced early 2016 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 GHz (performance cores). Furthermore, a ARM Mali-T830 MP2 graphics card (at 600 MHz with 40.8 GFLOPS), 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.