ARM Mali-G52 MP2 vs Qualcomm Adreno 618 vs Qualcomm Adreno 650

ARM Mali-G52 MP2

The ARM Mali-G52 MP2 (or G52MC2) is an integrated mid-range graphics card for ARM based SoCs (mostly Android based). It was introduced mid 2020 in the MediaTek Helio G80 with a clock speed of up to 950 MHz.

The G52 is based on the Bifrost architecture and is intended for mainstream phones. ARM claims that the G52 series offers 30% more performance density and 15% better energy efficiency compared to the ARM Mali G51 series.

The performance of the G52MP2 in our benchmarks (in the Helio G80) is comparable to the Adreno 612 and ARM Mali-G72 MP3 (thanks to the high clock speed of the G52MP2).

The GPU supports all modern graphics APIs like OpenGL ES 3.2, Vulkan 1.0, OpenCL 2.0 and Renderscript.

Qualcomm Adreno 618

The Qualcomm Adreno 618 is a mobile graphics card for upper mid-range smartphones and tablets (mostly Android based). It is included in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 and 730G SoCs and based on the Adreno 600 architecture (like the Adreno 630, which should be fully compatible in software).

In our benchmarks, the Adreno 618 in the Snapdragon 730 was 14 to 30% faster than the Adreno 616 in the Snapdragon 710. The performance in the 730G should be additional 15% faster, due to higher clock rates.

The GPU supports modern standards like Vulkan 1.0 (according to Wikipedia), OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 and DirectX 11 (FL 11_1).

Qualcomm Adreno 650

The Qualcomm Adreno 650 is a smartphone and tablet GPU that is integrated within the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, 865+ and 870 SoCs. The chip will be available from early 2020 and will be used mainly in high-end Android devices. The base clock speed of the GPU is 250 MHz and the boost depends on the used SoC. For the 865 it is 587 MHz, the 865 Plus increased to 846 MHz and the 2021 870 reached 670 MHz.

According to Qualcomm, the Adreno 650 GPU offers a 25% improved performance over the Adreno 640, its predecessor, which is integrated into the Snapdragon 855 SoC. The enhanced performance is achieved by the Adreno 650 having 50% more compute units (ALUs) than the Adreno 640. Furthermore, the clock speed of the pixel shaders was also increased by 50%.

The performance in our first benchmarks of a reference system positions itself above the ARM Mali-G76 MP16 and e.g. in 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme even on the top spot. In GFXBench only the Apple A13 GPU is able to best the Adreno 650 (regarding smartphone GPUs).

As a novelty, the GPU driver can be updated in the Android Play Store. Furthermore, some features are running under the Elite Gaming brand (e.g., 144 Hz display support, desktop forward rendering). 

The Adreno 650 supports Vulkan 1.1, DirectX 12, OpenGL ES 3.2, and OpenCL 2.0 FP. Furthermore, games and videos can use HDR10+ and Dolby Vision (with a supported display). The 650 supports 2 displays with up to 4K 60 Hz / QHD+ 144 Hz.