Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064A vs MediaTek MT8161 vs HiSilicon Kirin 935

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064A

The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064A is a high-end SoC for Android smartphones and tablets, which was introduced in 2012. The chip integrates 4 CPU cores, which are based on the ARMv7-compatible, but by Qualcomm designed Krait architecture. This provides a much higher per-MHz performance than Cortex-A9 chips such as Nvidia's Tegra 3 or the Exynos 4412 from Samsung, but does not quite reach the performance of the Cortex-A15 (for example in the Tegra 4). The memory is accessed via 2 x 32 bit LPDDR2 at up to 533 MHz, which offers a bandwidth of 8.5 GB/s.

Thanks to a dedicated decoder, the SoC can accelerate 1080p video playback up to a frame rate of 30 fps. 3D photos are possible up to a resolution of 20 megapixels. In addition, the chip also integrates a wireless module with Bluetooth 4.0 and WLAN 802.11ac/a/b/g/n. Produced by TSMC in 28 nm (LP), the power consumption should be around 4 watts (estimated, depending on the clock speed).

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).

HiSilicon Kirin 935

The HiSilicon Kirin 935 is an ARM-based octa-core SoC (system-on-a-chip) for smartphones and tablets. It was launched in the first half of 2015. It integrates two quad-core clusters of Cortex-A53 cores (big.LITTLE). The performance cluster clocks at up to 2.2 GHz, the power saving cluster at up to 1.5 GHz. Furthermore, the SoC integrates a ARM Mali-T628 MP4 graphics card and LTE Cat. 6 modem. The SoC is manufactured in 28nm and thanks to the small Cortex-A53 cores also suited for smaller smartphones.