Smartphone Processor and Cores

A CORE (A.K.A Processing Unit) of smartphones is the brain or processing power of its central processing unit. It receives set of steps or documentation that includes information on how to operate, perform or otherwise maintain particular smartphone's software or hardware.

This is to show that the processing speed of a smartphone is invariably dependent on its Cores.

Types of Cores used by smartphones

1. Dual Core: "Dual" means two. This means that the smartphone's processor contains double Cores.
2. Quad Core: "Quad" means four. This means that the smartphone's processor contains 4 Cores.
3. Hexa Core: "Hexa" means six. This means that the smartphone's processor contains 6 Cores.
4. Octa Core: "Octa" means eight. This means that the smartphone's processor contains 8 Cores.
5. Deca Core: "Deca" means ten. This means that the smartphone's processor contains 10 Cores.

Difference between the Cores of smartphones

The noticeable difference between the Cores mentioned above is just the processing speed and power.

Disadvantages of Cores in smartphones

As we've talked about the smartphone's speed being triggered by its Cores, we should also bear in mind that smartphones with high Cores are liable to suffer battery drainage easily. More Cores leads to higher power consumption by the processor. When the smartphone is switched on, the processor starts its work. It supplies power to all the Cores, not just one at a time. That is to say that a Quad Core processor' smartphone can go out of power faster than Dual core powered smartphone.

Additionally, more Cores in smartphones leads to more heat. Due to this problem, smartphone producers tends to integrate heat absorbers in smartphones.

Hidden truth about smartphone processing cores

It's not about how many Cores your smartphone is running, it's about what software you are running on them.
You may want to ask, "is an Octa core smartphone twice as fast as Quad core smartphone?".

The answer is NO.

An Octa Core processor is faster than a Quad core processor only when it's running an application that takes advantage of its abilities or when you are multi-tasking. For example, one core may be at work on your web browser while another is standing by. A call comes in and the second core comes to work. Both your web browser and your phone call continues without a hitch, but not necessarily twice as fast.

Examples of Processor Cores used in Smartphones

1. Qualcomm Snapdragon : It is a US based company, Qualcomm was the first brand that introduce CDMA technology in the market and actively involved in technology related to semiconductors designing for Mobile devices, tracking devices, satellite phones, Virtual Reality, wireless charging etc. It is widely known for its Snapdragon brand which is responsible for releasing mobile processors & LTE modems.
It first claim to fame in processor market when it released the first 1 Ghz processor that time average speed of most smartphones was only 512 Mhz.

Nowadays Snapdragon are come under the 4 Series :

200 Series :
Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform

400 Series :
Snapdragon 450 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 435 Platform
Snapdragon 430 Platform
Snapdragon 427 Platform

600 Series :
Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 653 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 652 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 650 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 636 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 630 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 626 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 625 Mobile Platform

800 Series :
Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 821 Mobile Platform
Snapdragon 820 Mobile Platform

Qualcomm Snapdragon processors are known for its performance. The processor handles multitasking very well and can handle heavy and intensive processing which is especially good for gaming. The presence of inbuilt Adreno graphics match the performance of processor. Snapdragon processors also produce less heat compared to other processors. Generally Snapdragon processors are costlier than other processors.

2. Apple Mobile Processors : Apple do not manufacture any microprocessors. Instead, they make contracts with processor manufacturing companies mainly Samsung and TSMC for making custom built processors that suits their design and performance expectations.
2. Apple Mobile Processors : Apple do not manufacture any microprocessors. Instead, they make contracts with processor manufacturing companies mainly Samsung and TSMC for making custom built processors that suits their design and performance expectations.

List of Series used by Apple in Processors :
A Series : The A series is a family of “System on Chips” (SoC) used in iPhones, iPad, iPod touch & Apple TV. They are designed by Apple and manufactured by Samsung & TSMC. They integrate CPU, GPU, Cache memory and other electronics necessary to provide mobile computing functions within a single physical package.

Processors come under A series :
Apple A4
Apple A5
Apple A5X
Apple A6
Apple A6X
Apple A7
Apple A8
Apple A8X
Apple A9
Apple A9X
Apple A10 Fusion
Apple A10X Fusion
Apple A11 Bionic

S Series : The S series is a family of “System in Package” (SiP) used in Apple watch. They are designed by Apple and manufactured by Samsung.
Processors come under S series :
Apple S1
Apple S1P
Apple S2
Apple S3

T Series : T series is designed to use in TouchID sensors in MacBook Pro. The only version released till now is Apple T1.

W series : Apple W series is used in headphones for wireless audio connectivity. The series is currently in Apple W1 which is used in wireless headphones and AirPods.P
Processors come under W series :
Apple W1
Apple W2

3. Intel Atom and Core M processors : Intel is an American multinational company synonymous with PC and microprocessors. Atom is the brand name given for the low power consuming and low cost 32 and 64 bit chips manufactured for using in smartphones and tablet devices.

Intel processors are based on X86 architecture which is powerful than ARM, but consume more power compared to ARM architecture. Latest versions of Intel processors did improve the power consumption aspect bringing it down to less than 5 watts which is ideal for all mobile devices. Though Atom processors in the beginning supported only Windows, it now supports all major mobile operating systems.
Intel Atom processors are currently in Atom X5 and X7 series. These chips are 64 bit Quad core processors in 14 nanometer size with speeds up to 1.6 GHz that can be scaled up to 2.4 Ghz.
Intel also released Intel Core M microprocessors which are ultra low-voltage designed for ultra-thin notebooks, mobile devices and 2 in 1 convertibles. The processor consume less 4.5 watts or less power making it ideal for long battery life. These are dual core processors with speeds around 1.5Ghz which can be scaled to 3.2 GHz speeds. Intel Core M processors offer 40% boost in CPU and graphics performance than previous versions.
Intel Atom processors are supported by all manufacturers. The latest Atom processor is mainly used in tablet manufacturers from Microsoft Surface, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP. As of 2020 , Asus ZenFone series is the only smartphone using Atom processor. Core M processors is used in 12-inch Apple MacBook and HP Chromebook.

4. Nvidia Tegra : Nvidia Corporation is an American based company technology company which specialize in making processing units for graphics, gaming units and mobile devices. Nvidia develops chips for smartphones, tablets and mobile devices under the brand Tegra.
Tegra processors are built on 64 bit ARM architecture.

Tegra till now have gone through Tegra 1, Tegra 3, Tegra 4, Tegra 4i, Tegra K1, Tegra X1, Tegra X2, Tegra Xavier, Tegra Orin. As of 2020, Tegra Orin is currently the most advanced Tegra chip in the market. The process is Quad Core with 256 GPU cores capable of 4K video capabilities. The chips are built on 20 nm technology. The processor is currently used in Nvidia SHIELD Android TV.

Tegra processors used in smartphone and tablet markets are mainly Tegra 4, Tegra 4i and Tegra K1.
Tegra 4 is used by Asus Transformer PAD, HP Slatebook, Toshiba Excite, Xiaomi Mi3, XOLO Play Tegra Note.
Tegra 4i is used by Blackphone.
Tegra K1 is used by Nvidia Shield Tablet, Google Nexus 9, Acer Chromebook 13 and 14, Navi Big Tab.
Nvidia announced the release of Tegra P1 and Nvidia Xavier. First one was Hexa core and the latter Octa core. Both was built on 16 nm technology.

5. MediaTek : MediaTek is a Taiwanese semiconductor company providing chips for mobile devices, HDTV’s and other electronic devices.
MediaTek processors are built on 64 bit ARM architecture. The latest MediaTek processor supports up to 3 GHz speed. They come in variety of cores such as Dual Core (2 core), Quad Core (4 core), Hexa Core (6 core) and Deca Core (10 core).

The latest processor from MediaTek are Helio G90 and Helio G90T which are used in smartphones and tablets. MediaTek processors are mostly popular with Chinese manufacturer. Xiaomi, Meizu, LeEco Le, Yu etc use them on Smartphones. Acer, Asus ,Lenovo, Amazon Fire HD, QMobile are some of the manufacturers that use the processors in their tablets.
The company has released Helio X30 and Helio X27. They use 10 nm and 20 nm respectively. Both are deca core with 2 dual core and a single dual core built inside the processor.

6. HiSilicon : HiSilicon is a Chinese company specializing in semiconductor technology. The company is owned by Huawei. The company creates chips based on ARM architecture. The company is the largest domestic integrated circuit designer in China.
Some of the processors released by HiSilicon are K3V1, K3V2, K3V2E, Kirin 620, Kirin 650, Kirin 910, Kirin 920, Kirin 930, Kirin 950, kirin 960, kirin 970 and latest Kirin 980.Some of the devices with Kirin 950 are Honor 8, Huawei mate 8, Huawei MediaPad M3.

The Kirin 980, the world's first 7nm process mobile phone SoC chipset, the world’s first cortex-A76 architecture chipset, the world’s first dual NPU design, and the world’s first chipset to support LTE Cat.21. The Kirin 980 combines multiple technological innovations and leads the AI trend to provide users with impressive mobile performance and to create a more convenient and intelligent life.

The Kirin 980 integrates 6.9 billion transistors in an area of less than 1 square centimeter which is a 1.6x fold increase in density* to empower better performance. This chipset is the first Cortex-A76 based in the world and has a 75% improvement in single core performance*. The Kirin 980 also includes the world’s first commercial use Mali-G76 GPU performance is improved by 46%. The LPDDR4X memory operates at speeds up to 2133 MHz. The fourth-generation ISP utilises a multi-pass noise reduction to capture quality images and preserve important details. This ISP also has a dedicated video pipeline to effectively improve video clarity and reduce shooting delays by 33%.
The GPU is rumored to be 180% faster than its predecessor. The processor made great improvement in making sure the battery last longer. There is also a lot of improvement in high LTE download and upload speeds. The processor is rumored to be powerful than Apple A10 Fusion or Snapdragon 820 and 821.

7. Samsung Exynos : Exynos is a brand of Samsung Electronics which makes processors based on ARM architecture.
Exynos processors are manufatcured in the series of ARMv7 & ARMv8 SoCs.

List of ARMv7 Exynos SoCs :
Exynos 3 Single
Exynos 3250
Exynos 3470
Exynos 3475
Exynos 4210
Exynos 4212
Exynos 4415
Exynos 5250
Exynos 5260
Exynos 5410
Exynos 5420
Exynos 5422
Exynos 5430
Exynos 5800

List of ARMv8 Exynos SoCs :
Exynos 5433
Exynos 7420
Exynos 7570
Exynos 7580
Exynos 7650
Exynos 7870
Exynos 7880
Exynos 8890
Exynos 8895
Latest Exyno 990

Exynos 7420 Octa which is a 14nm, octa-core processor is used in Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge.
After Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung decided to use both Exynos and Qualcomm models for their smartphone. Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge used both Exynos 8 Octa 8890 and Snapdragon 820. The type of processor used was decided by the model number and the place from where it is bought. Exynos 8 Octa 8890 is 14nm octa core processor.

The latest and greatest Exynos chipset in 2020 is the Exynos 990, found in the Galaxy S20 family. This processor offers a tri-cluster CPU arrangement, much like we see with flagship chipsets from Qualcomm and Huawei’s HiSilicon. That means we’ve got two custom-designed CPU cores for heavy lifting, two Cortex-A76 CPU cores for mid-weight tasks, and four Cortex-A55 cores to handle simple, undemanding tasks.

The Exynos 990 also packs a flagship-level Arm Mali-G77 MP11 GPU, a dual-core neural processing unit (NPU) for machine learning, and a 7nm design. Other noteworthy Exynos 990 features include 8K recording, up to 108MP cameras, 120Hz screen refresh rate support, and 5G via the bundled modem.

Souce: https://www.betterphones.icu/2020/08/functions-of-different-processor-and.html

700 series of SD nko

Mike23r:
700 series of SD nko

Thanks for the observation. I'll add it up

Very educating but the write up long no be small oo

Nice and educative writeup

Simeony007:
Nice and educative writeup

Thanks

Detailed

Nice right up. Educative

Very much insightful

But you should also include UniSoC SC 7331e and its series mostly used by low budget smart phone. Example of phones that uses this series of chip include SAMSUNG GALAXY A03 CORE, NOKIA C10, NOKIA C1 second edition, etc.

Educative .thanks