Fact check: Huawei flaunts Kirin 980 assets over Snapdragon 845, but are they meaningful?

During the Kirin 980 launch, Huawei was adamant in its allegory to the Snapdragon 845. Does the new dent accept the chops to topple the bazaar leader?

Richard Yu’s keynote advertisement of Huawei’s new Kirin 980 smartphone SoC was an almighty advancing affair. The aggregation has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 durably in its sights, with comparisons and benchmarks abound that advertise the Kirin 980 advancing out on top.

Related reading: HiSilicon: What you charge to apperceive about Huawei’s dent architectonics unit

Of course, after a smartphone in our own hands, we shouldn’t be too dupe of Huawei’s own centralized testing. However, we can definitely take a attending at some of the company’s claims and see which accomplish faculty accustomed the ample capacity that we already accept on the latest Arm CPU and GPU genitalia that the 980 is using.

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For a recap, let’s breach bottomward the blueprint of the two chips.

Much of the focus in Huawei’s presentation was on ability and gaming performance, with alone a smidgen of CPU comparisons befuddled in. According to Huawei’s centralized testing, the Kirin 980 array about 3360 in Geekbench distinct core. That’s appreciably faster than the Snapdragon 845’s 2452 account and matches the gargantuan M3 cores central Samsung’s Exynos 9810.

Drastically bigger distinct amount achievement isn’t surprising. The Kirin 980 accouterments Arm’s high-performance Cortex-A76, while the Snapdragon 845 is based on the Cortex-A75. The 37 percent achievement advance metric matches with the about 35 percent amount that Arm itself gave for the new core, accord or booty a few allotment credibility for alarm acceleration variations. The 32 percent bigger ability ability amount additionally seems rather fair, accustomed the abate 7nm processing bulge and architectonics improvements. The dent additionally boasts a ample 4MB aggregate L3 cache, bifold that of the Snapdragon 845, to accumulate the cores able-bodied fed. So far, Huawei’s CPU claims assemblage up appealing well.

The ability bend of the Kirin 980 is a little added of an unknown. Three-tier achievement credibility with absolute ability and alarm domains will, in theory, escape achievement and activity penalties that hit antecedent big.LITTLE architectures. This should acquiesce the dent to bigger antithesis ability for the assignment at hand, alike added so than Qualcomm’s DynamIQ implementation. Huawei’s scheduling accelerate absolutely indicates that this is the goal.

However, this does accomplish assignment scheduling abundant added complicated than acceptable two-tier designs. Huawei claims to accept apparent the problems with assignment put into its predictive scheduler and touts bigger “AI” amount anticipation to accumulate ability burning beneath wraps. But this is area we charge to hands-on time with a concrete artefact to see if responsiveness, amount times, and array activity account as abundant as the abstract abeyant suggests.

Finally, there’s additionally the college abundance LPDDR4X RAM accomplishing to accumulate high-performance apparatus able-bodied fed. Albeit conceivably at the amount of some added activity consumption. This will absolutely advice with faster amount times and cartoon performance, which we’ll booty a afterpiece attending at in a minute.

The Kirin 980’s ability ability gains, alike after anguish about the exact numbers, are a aftereffect of several factors. The move to 7nm from 10nm is undoubtedly a above contributor, as is the three-tier CPU array architectonics with its committed ability points, forth with the bigger predictive scheduler. On the CPU and anamnesis side, this should be a acceptable chip.

Slide assuming Kirin 980 vs Snapdragon 845 gaming anatomy rate

While I’m analytic assertive that the CPU and anamnesis achievement assets accustomed are acceptable to be analytic representative, the GPU examples are beneath convincing. Yes, the Mali-G76 MP10 is absolutely added able than the Kirin 970’s Mali-G72 MP12. There are 67 percent added beheading engines, added additional assets from added architectonics improvements. But some quick algebraic on absolute benchmarks suggests this is absolutely alone activity to advance Huawei’s GPU achievement up to Adreno 630 levels. Huawei is cyberbanking on its GPU Turbo technology to exhausted Qualcomm, but the demos aren’t as convincing.

First up the NBA2k18 audience that showed a about 20fps advantage for the Kirin 980 was a CPU apprenticed test. But it’s at atomic acceptable to apperceive that the distinct amount achievement assets alteration over to the absolute world. Added GPU abstracts showed added alloyed after-effects for Huawei’s new chipset, with the aggregation alike claiming that its achievement is actual abutting to the year-old Snapdragon. Huawei alone claims to outdistance the Snapdragon 845’s gaming achievement back utilizing its GPU Turbo technology.

Slide assuming Kirin 980 vs 845 GPU performance

The PUBG audience provided a clearer win for Huawei’s Kirin 980, with a college and abundant added constant anatomy amount than its rival. However, the aggregation has formed carefully with PUBG and Mobile Legends developers to added optimize their amateur for GPU Turbo, so added titles may not benefit.

GPU Turbo is advancing to four added titles in a approaching update, and you apparently alone charge GPU Turbo for beneath ambitious amateur anyway. However, the all-inclusive majority of amateur will not acquaintance this added achievement boost, abrogation Huawei’s dent abaft its better competitor. Although, the boastful 187 percent activity ability boost, if true, will be a huge account to gamers on-the-go.

The basal band is that cartoon achievement charcoal the weakest articulation on Huawei’s Kirin SoCs. The Kirin 980 has apparently bent up to the Snapdragon 845 and may alike exhausted it in some scenarios, but it’s not a advocate bound gaming performance. Absolute apple after-effects are activity to be actual content-dependent, but I wouldn’t bet on Huawei’s Kirin 980 phones actuality the actual fastest gaming handsets about throughout 2019.

Ultimately, comparisons to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 are a little unfair. The dent is advancing a year old and the Snapdragon 855 will access afore the end of the year, additionally congenital on a 7nm process and with a host of added improvements. While the Kirin 980-equipped Mate 20 will barrage afore 2019’s Snapdragon 855 flagships, Huawei’s advantages defined actuality about absolutely won’t administer to the aforementioned extent, come the beachcomber of flagship phone announcements in aboriginal 2019.

This isn’t to say the Kirin 980 won’t be a actual aggressive dent in 2019 though. The CPU, GPU, memory, AI, and added improvements set a aerial bar for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and Samsung’s Exynos next-gen flagship parts. The Mate 20 and abutting access in the Huawei P alternation will handle aloof about annihilation you can bandy at them. Aloof as importantly, if Honor continues to accommodate high-end Kirin processors at lower amount points, the Kirin 980 could absolutely agitate up the mid-tier market.

Now read: Everything you charge to apperceive about the Huawei Mate 20

 HiSilicon Kirin 980Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
CPU2x Cortex-A76 @ 2.6GHz
2x Cortex-A76 @ 1.92GHz
4x Cortex-A55 @ 1.8GHz
(4MB aggregate L3 cache)
4x Kryo 835 (Cortex-A75) @ 2.8GHz
4x Kryo 835 (Cortex-A55) @ 1.7GHz
(2MB aggregate L3 cache)
GPUMali-G76 MP10Adreno 630
AI processing unit2x NPUHexagon 685 DSP with HVX
RAMLPDDR4X @ 2133MHzLPDDR4X @ 1866MHz
LTE modemLTE Cat 21
1.4Gbps bottomward / 200Mbps up
LTE Cat 18
1.2Gbps bottomward / 150Mbps up
ProcessTSMC 7nm FinFETTSMC 10nm FinFET

CPU assets and ability efficiency

Gaming performance

Wait for the Kirin 980 vs Snapdragon 855 …

Editor's Pick

The CPU achievement and ability assets are acceptable to be actual impressive, and not aloof because of 7nm. Although assignment scheduling achievement is an unknown.

GPU achievement may bolt up with the 845, but there are alone a scattering of GPU Turbo titles that can columnist any array of advantage.

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