Mobile manufacturers today have done an excellent job of educating consumers like you and me about the components of a smartphone. We now understand important features like the amount of RAM, storage, camera quality, and additional software, which helps us make informed choices when comparing phones before making a purchase. However, one component that many consumers still find challenging to understand is the mobile phone processor.
We’ve all heard terms like dual-core, quad-core, and octa-core processors. But is having a high number of processor cores the only reason a phone works faster or lasts longer? If you’re looking to buy your next phone, how do you choose between two devices that both claim to have an octa-core or quad-core processor? Let’s explore this topic together and build your knowledge about mobile phone processors and their components—something that many sellers may not even fully understand. Towards the end, I’ll share a simple technique to ensure you get the best value for your money.
Hi, I’m Stephen, and this is your tech takeaway for today.
Let’s start with something familiar: the parts of a computer. I remember learning about this in school when we first got a computer lab. A computer typically includes a CPU, motherboard, RAM, ROM or hard disk, graphics card, keyboard, mouse, and a power source.
Now, let’s compare this to the components of a modern smartphone. The mouse and keyboard are gone since you don’t need them on a smartphone. The hard disk has been replaced with what we call memory or storage, and the power source is now the battery. RAM remains the same, and we have a touch display that acts as both a monitor and input device. The CPU, motherboard, graphics card, and additional sensors and connectivity components are all integrated into a single chip called the SoC, or system on chip. Essentially, it’s like having a full computer on one chip.
Manufacturers have made it easy for us to check for RAM, memory, and battery on a phone. It’s straightforward: the higher the number, the better it is. For example, a phone with 12 GB of RAM is better than one with 8 GB. However, the real challenge lies in the marketing tactics used by manufacturers. They often display the SoC used in a phone on the packaging or marketing materials, featuring names like Snapdragon from Qualcomm, Exynos from Samsung, Helios from MediaTek, or A14 from Apple. This can lead you to believe that all phones with a particular SoC will perform at the same level, which is not true.
Let’s take a closer look at what’s inside a modern SoC. Don’t worry too much about the technical names; the goal is to understand what each part does. For this example, I’ll focus on the Snapdragon 888 SoC from Qualcomm, one of their latest chips available for mobile phone processors. When manufacturers mention an octa-core processor, they are referring to this part. The Snapdragon 888 has an 8-core processor, which is why it’s called an octa-core processor. It includes one prime core, three secondary cores, and four efficiency cores that run at very low speeds. This design ensures that the processor’s workload is distributed effectively. For instance, when you’re browsing the web, the prime core isn’t used; instead, the efficiency cores take over, consuming less battery. Conversely, if you’re gaming, the prime core is utilized for better performance.
The next component is the ISP, or image signal processor, which processes all the data from your camera sensor to enhance your pictures. Remember how your night mode pictures come out brighter after just a moment? That’s thanks to this processor.
Then there’s the GPU, or graphics processing unit, which manages display resolution, gaming, and video encoding and decoding. The fourth component handles all the artificial intelligence tasks on your phone, like voice assistants, camera scene identification, and battery life optimization. The fifth part manages various sensors, while the sixth part is responsible for security features like biometric scanning. The seventh part deals with GSM and mobile networks, the eighth manages Wi-Fi and other connectivity options like NFC and Bluetooth, and finally, there’s cache memory for all these components to operate efficiently.
Now that you have a basic understanding of SoCs, you might think that the best approach when buying your next phone is to choose the one with the best SoC. While that’s partially true, it’s not the whole story. SoCs like the Snapdragon 888 enable many features, but manufacturers don’t always utilize all of their capabilities to the fullest.
Take RAM, for example. We often see the amount of RAM listed on the packaging—4, 8, 12, or 16 GB. However, another crucial factor is the frequency at which the RAM operates. Have you ever checked the speed of the 8 GB RAM in your phone? An 8 GB RAM running at 133 megahertz and one running at 2600 megahertz can make a significant difference in how quickly your phone opens apps. The Snapdragon 888 supports the latest RAM format, which can operate at speeds of up to 3200 megahertz, but not every manufacturer uses RAM at that speed.
It’s like having a car with an engine capable of reaching 200 kilometers per hour, but the manufacturer didn’t include the necessary parts to achieve that speed, so it only reaches 180 kilometers per hour. You might wonder why they wouldn’t just add those parts. In mobile phones, the reasons can vary: sometimes it’s to cut costs, sometimes for better battery efficiency, or it could be that the necessary components are unavailable. Additionally, the software may not be optimized to utilize all the features of that particular SoC.
A classic example is the Samsung S21. This phone uses the Snapdragon 888 SoC, but it doesn’t disclose the RAM speed or format it uses. A bit of research reveals that the Samsung S21 operates at a RAM frequency of 2750 megahertz, while the Snapdragon 888 can support up to 3200 megahertz. This means that for various reasons, Samsung chose not to use faster RAM.
So, how can you make an informed choice about your next phone based on performance, especially when manufacturers may not fully utilize the potential of the same marketed SoC? The truth is, you don’t need to check every detail. When buying the fastest car on the market, you wouldn’t open the engine to inspect every part, right? Instead, you would test multiple cars to see which one accelerates from 0 to 100 in the shortest time and choose accordingly.
Similarly, don’t get caught up in the manufacturers’ claims about SoC names or processor speeds. Instead, use existing testing tools to evaluate how well your preferred phone performs in real-world tasks. Universally respected benchmarking tools like Antutu and Geekbench can provide valuable insights. You can find the performance rankings of the phones you’re considering based on tests conducted by various users. An overall score will give you a good indication of which phone offers better speed and processing capabilities.
For example, the OnePlus 9 Pro 5G and Samsung S21 Ultra both use the Snapdragon 888 SoC. However, in performance metrics on Antutu, the OnePlus 9 Pro is benchmarked 34,000 points higher than the Samsung S21 Ultra.
From now on, I hope you’ll always check the Antutu scores before making your next mobile phone purchase, allowing you to engage in smarter discussions with sellers who tout their octa-core or quad-core processors. Share this information with them and encourage them to educate themselves further.
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to helping you with more tech insights in the future!
