Mediatek and Qualcomm flagship and Mid-end SoCs comparison
A brief analysis on the latest premium and mid-end mobile SoCs between Mediatek and Qualcomm
During the 2023 Q4 Qualcomm and Mediatek released its own new flagship and mid-end mobile SoC.
Regarding the flagship SoCs there are several differences, in particular in:
Microarchitecture: Mediatek Dimensity 9300 is adopting 8 cores with (1-3-4 scheme) with 4 prime cores (Cortex-X4) and 4 big cores (Cortex-A720) against Qualcomm Snapdragon that uses one prime (Cortex-X4), five big (Cortex-A720) and two small cores (Cortex-A520) 8 cores scheme. Mediatek with all big cores aims to be more powerful especially in specific apps, AI and gaming, Qualcomm’s SoC is comparable, with a more focus on low power thanks to the two efficient cores, based on Cortex-A520 that on simple device usage could save battery life.
RAM: Mediatek Dimensity 9300 is adopting LPDDR5T with a faster clock than Qualcomm.
GNSS Positioning accuracy: both SoCs have GNSS multi frequency, however, Mediatek Dimensity 9300 have embedded the PPP algorithm for high precision accuracy (centimeter accuracy), while Qualcomm’s is counting on a triple frequency arriving on lane level accuracy (sub-meter).
Camera MP support: Mediatek Dimensity 9300 supports more MP cameras (up to 320 MP) than Qualcomm (up to 200 MP)
Here below is the comparison chart of the Mediatek Dimensity 9300 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoCs:
Regarding the Mid-end mobile SoCs the main differences are:
Higher frequency output: on Mediatek Dimensity 8300 (up to 3,35 GHz) compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 with only 2,63 GHz.
RAM: higher frequency clock on the Mediatek Dimensity 8300 RAM (LPDDR5X, the same architecture adopted for Qualcomm flagship SoC).
Bluetooth connectivity: Mediatek has chosen to integrate the bluetooth 5.4 standard also on the mid-end SoC, while Qualcomm 7 Gen 3 has remained with bluetooth 5.3.
GNSS positioning: Qualcomm has adopted the same scheme as in its flagship SoC, with a GNSS triple frequency, while Mediatek has only a dual frequency.
Camera MP support: Mediatek has chosen to adopt a higher camera MP resolution (up to 320 MP as Dimensity 9300), while Qualcomm is supporting only up to 200 MP.
Here below is the comparison chart of the Mediatek Dimensity 8300 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoCs:
Mediatek wants to compete with Qualcomm targeting the premium and high-end segment, offering high performances also in the mid-segment. The competition between the two main mobile SoC players has reached a higher level than before and this situation could be beneficial for the mobile industry in order to deliver new features and increasing performances at every SoC update, as well as the end users will receive higher specs on their devices.