Qualcomm Snapdragon vs Mediatek Helio: Difference and Comparison

Qualcomm Snapdragon and Mediatek Helio are processors used in smartphones. They are definitely the most complex of all smartphone themes.

Processors are primarily to be judged based on their performance and in that case, Snapdragon stands out to be a better one than Mediatek.

Key Takeaways

1. Qualcomm Snapdragon processors deliver higher performance and energy efficiency than MediaTek Helio chips.
2. Snapdragon processors support more advanced graphics and AI capabilities than MediaTek Helio processors.
3. MediaTek Helio chips are more cost-effective, making them popular in budget and mid-range smartphones.

Qualcomm Snapdragon vs Mediatek Helio

Qualcomm Snapdragon processors are known for their performance capabilities and are found in high-end smartphones, serving as the processing powerhouse for flagship devices. MediaTek Helio processors are designed to be more cost-effective, offering affordable solutions for budget-oriented devices.

Qualcomm Snapdragon is better to be called an SoC ( System on Chip) rather than a processor. It has been designed by Qualcomm technologies and is also marketed by the same.

The ARM architecture is used by the central processing unit ( CPU) of Snapdragon. It can support the faster smartphone speeds in today’s world along with supporting 5G. 

Mediatek Helio is also an SoC. It also uses the ARM architecture just like a snapdragon.

It is manufactured by Mediatek. These processors work best in Sony smartphones and are a bit weak on smartphones manufactured by Chinese companies.

It is one of the best processors for gaming and some other tasks as well.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Qualcomm Snapdragon	MediaTek Helio
Establishment Year of the Company	Qualcomm was established in the year 1985.	Mediatek was established in the year 1997.
Establishment Place	It was established in San Diego.	It was established in Hsinchu.
Battery life	It provides a comparatively longer battery life.	It provides a battery life comparatively shorter than Snapdragon.
Heating	It has controlled heating.	It has intense heating.
Cost	Snapdragon is much more expensive than Mediatek.	Mediatek is quite cheaper than Snapdragon.
Graphic Performance	It provides a comparatively better graphic performance.	The graphic performance is comparatively lower than Snapdragon.
Overall performance	It provides a much superior performance than Mediatek. They can handle multi-tasking and gaming much better when compared to Mediatek.	It provides less superior performance than Snapdragon. They are also good at multi-tasking and gaming, but compared to snapdragon it is a bit low.
Processor cores	It has a lesser number of processor cores. Processor cores present in Snapdragon are Multi-core 1-2-4-6-8-10.	It has more number of processor cores. Processor cores present in Mediatek are 1-2-4-6-8-10-12.

What is Qualcomm Snapdragon?

One of the best SoC’s in today’s market is Snapdragon. Qualcomm Technologies designs and markets these for smartphones. The ARM architecture is used by the CPU of Snapdragon.

One single CPU may constitute many CPU cores and also GPU, which is Adreno Graphics Processing Unit. It also consists of an ISP which stands for Image Signal Processor and many more parts.

To support these parts some other software and hardware part are also present in the smartphone. These snapdragon processors are used in many places like Android phones, netbooks, and also the Windows phone.

It can also be used in cars and other movable devices.

The first Snapdragon processor was released in the year 2007. The name “Snapdragon” has been used to denote Fast and fierce as in the name snap and dragon.

There are around 23 different types of Snapdragon chipsets available in the current market under the categories 200, 400, 600, 700, 800. In the year 2015, February, all the modem products of Qualcomm were re-branded under the name Snapdragon.

Snapdragon also captured a good market in the US during the growing use of Windows phones there during 2013. The current naming scheme of Snapdragon is after the 800 families.

What is Mediatek Helio?

Mediatek was the biggest company of Chipset in 2020 by occupying 31% of the market. The strong and maximum performance was shown by Mediatek in China and India and thus it became the biggest vendor of smartphone chipsets.

Helio is designed and manufactured by Mediatek which is a Taiwanese Company. It provides processors for wireless communications, devices like HD TV, tablets, smartphones, navigation systems, and digital subscriber lines.

Mediatek has 25 offices all around the world, its headquarters is situated at Hsinchu. Mediatek was founded in the year 1997.

The company originally was a part of UMC or United Microelectronics Corporation. The main motto of the company was to design chipsets for products that are designed to be kept at home for entertainment purposes.

In the Year 2019, on November 25, Mediatek announced a partnership with Intel to bring in 5G in the PCs by 2021. By 2020, Qualcomm was overtaken by Mediatek as the largest vendor of chipsets.

In the year 2014, they also announced the world’s first device for wireless charging which is also known as the “multimode receiver”. But the processors are big consumers of batteries and also generate a lot of heat because of the number of processors present in them.

Main Differences Between Qualcomm Snapdragon and Mediatek Helio

1. Qualcomm Snapdragon was established in San Diego in the year 1985 while Mediatek Helio was established in Hsinchu in the year 1997. 
2. Qualcomm Snapdragon provides better graphic performance than Mediatek Helio.
3. Qualcomm Snapdragon has a better battery life than Mediatek Helio.
4. Snapdragon has controlled heating while Mediatek has intense heating.
5. Snapdragon is much more expensive than Mediatek.
6. Snapdragon provides a much superior performance than Mediatek.
7. Processor cores in Snapdragon are Multi-core 1-2-4-6-8-10 and that in Mediatek are 1-2-4-6-8-10-12.

References

1. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9022101
2. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3266444.3266454