What is Best Processor in Smartphone

By Carrie Tsai,  Last Updated: August 14, 2018

A system-on-a-chip integrates digital, analogue and mixed signals, as well as RF functions into a single unit. It consumes less power, which makes it ideal for smartphones.

The big players in the smartphone processor market are definitely Huawei, Samsung and Qualcomm. Qualcomm is a supplier to most smartphone manufacturers, while Samsung and Huawei manufacture their own chipsets.

Wondering which smartphones are expected to as new powerful yet efficient SoC? Read on to find out.

The Basic Elements of a Processor:

Most processors today are multi-core, which means that the IC contains two or more processors for enhanced performance, reduced power consumption and more efficient simultaneous processing of multiple tasks. Multi-core set-ups are similar to having multiple, separate processors installed in the same computer, but because the processors are actually plugged into the same socket, the connection between them is faster.

The term processor is used interchangeably with the term central processing unit (CPU), although strictly speaking, the CPU is not the only processor in a computer. The GPU (graphics processing unit) is the most notable example but the hard drive and other devices within a computer also perform some processing independently. Nevertheless, the term processor is generally understood to mean the CPU.

Performance TOP 10 Processor in Smartphone Last Year

Two years ago, Apple’s A10 chip led the rest of the pack, thanks to its smooth ratings on Antutu. Qualcomm’s top-dog Snapdragon 835 took the top spot as 2017’s fastest smartphone chip in the first three quarters. However, Apple launched its most powerful chipset yet. The A11 Bionic that prevails against the other SoCs.

Just launched last year, the Snapdragon 835 offers a surprising jump in performance against the previous Snapdragon chipsets. It uses 25 percent less power since it is 35 percent smaller than the other Snapdragon chipsets. The latest Snapdragon 835 achieved a whopping score on Geekbench performance.

The eighth-placed spot is in the hands of Samsung’s in-house made Exynos 8890 chip. It scored a pretty decent score of 129,865 and a GPU performance rating of 37,545. The Exynos 8890 was able to top-off the Hi Silicon’s Kirin 950 and various Qualcomm chips from 2016. From the ratings, we can determine that the Exynos 8890’s performance is already great and is closely closing into Apple A9’s performance.

And what's the point this year? Stop worrying, listen to me with his right.

Most Valuable Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845

Part of the Snapdragon 845's biggest draw is something that we've seen, good and bad, from a number of manufacturers over the past year: HDR.

Specifically, the 845 supports capture in what Qualcomm calls Ultra HD Premium, which supports wider color gamuts, such as Rec. 2020 — that's more colors — and considerably more shades of existing colors, in 10-bit HDR. This is powered by the new lower-power Spectra 280 ISP, an upgrade over the one inside the Snapdragon 835. With screens getting sharper and OLED displays becoming more vivid, the Snapdragon 845 promises to make video capture and playback significantly better in 4K, something that Qualcomm has been pushing for a long time.

So when can you get it? The chip will start shipping in the second quarter of next year so, like this year, Samsung Galaxy S9 has been the first phone with the new chip.

New Force Processor: Samsung Exynos 9810

The Exynos 9810 introduces sophisticated features to enhance user experience with deep learning-based software. This cutting-edge technology allows the processor to accurately identify items or persons in the photos for fast image searching or categorization. Furthermore, the Exynos 9810 enables a depth sensing feature to scan user’s face in 3D for face tracking filters as well as strong security when unlocking a device with one’s face.

The Exynos 9810 features a 3rd generation custom CPU upgraded with wider pipelines and optimized cache memory. With a clock speed of up to 2.9GHz, a 3rd generation custom CPU offers higher computing power so that its single-core and multi-core performances are improved around two-fold and 40 percent respectively when compared to its predecessor. The Exynos 9810 offers greater processing power for intensive tasks resulting in seamless multi-tasking and computing experience. Notably, the Exynos 9810 is built on the 2nd generation 10nm FinFET process to deliver a powerful performance with less power.

Artificial Intelligence Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 970

Huawei has been a leader in the global telecommunications equipment market since 2012, and released the groundbreaking Kirin 970 SoC last September. The company’s Kirin 970-equipped flagship smartphone Mate 10 is the first-ever mobile phone to ship with AI hardware.

To help free AI application developers from concerns regarding costs, distribution/promotion, and IP issues, Huawei improved Kirin 970’s design and introduced features such as a multi-application model, support for machine learning frameworks, comprehensive documentation, rich and efficient APIs, a rapid-start source code, and so on.

Is There One Fastest Processor?

TEach processor special in its own way and every consumer has their own small abacus，so it's hard to say which is the best. Qualcomm delivers innovations, particularly in graphics, and is getting ready for stand-alone VR. Samsung, specializes in more efficient and hopefully more accurate 3D face recognition. Huawei devotes herself to AI accelerator, when you look at the marketing of the new smartphone, it quickly becomes clear that the brand has put its money in AI.