Which chip has better performance? Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 vs HiSilicon 920 chip

Looking back at the first half of 2014, the domestic smartphone market has seen a lot of new models, such as Sony Xperia Z2, Samsung GALAXY S5, HTC One (M8), OnePlus, Hammer and the recently released Huawei Honor 6. It is not difficult to find that most of the popular high-end flagship products use Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chips, while Honor 6 is the only one equipped with Huawei's own HiSilicon Kirin 920 octa-core chip.

Qualcomm Snapdragon processor schematic

Everyone should be familiar with Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip, after all, most of the high-end flagship products on the market use this processor, and Mobile China has previously brought you many related test articles. As for HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip, many people should have started to pay attention to it when Huawei Honor 6 was released. Compared with Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip, people are still not familiar with its specific performance and actual performance.

Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip

Next, I will bring you a comparative evaluation of Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chip and Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip, so that you can have a clearer understanding of their performance and differences, and then provide some guidance for you when purchasing smartphones.

Basic information of chip

It should be pointed out that the devices used in this comparison test are HTC One Fashion Edition and Huawei Honor 6. Among them, HTC One Fashion Edition uses a 5-inch 1080p Full HD screen, a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor and 2GB RAM, while Huawei Honor 6 uses a 5-inch 1080p Full HD screen, a HiSilicon Kirin 920 octa-core processor and 3GB RAM. The screen size and screen resolution are the same, the running memory (RAM) is slightly different, and the bigger difference is the difference in the processor.

Qualcomm 800 series chip schematic

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip uses a 28nm process and is equipped with a Krait 400 processor (CPU), with a single-core main frequency of up to 2.5GHz (the device used for comparison in this article, the HTC One Fashion Edition, has a maximum main frequency of 2.5GHz), and is equipped with an Adreno 330 graphics processor (GPU). It can support up to 21-megapixel cameras and a display resolution of up to 2560×2048 pixels, and has a built-in modem that supports 4G LTE global modes, including LTE FDD, LTE TDD and other standards.

Specifications of HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip

As for Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip, it also uses 28nm process technology, but has 4 large cores (A15 architecture, 1.7GHz main frequency) and 4 small cores (A7 architecture, 1.3GHz main frequency), and can run at the same time. It is equipped with Mali T628MP4 graphics processor (GPU), integrated with Huawei LTE Advanced communication module, can support LTE Cat6 standard, and the peak data transmission rate in FDD scenario can reach 300Mbps. It also supports LTE FDD, LTE TDD and other standards.

After introducing the basic parameters, I will conduct multiple rounds of comparative tests, one is a quad-core chip that is essential for mainstream flagship phones, and the other is an octa-core chip used by Huawei. Which one is better? You may wish to continue reading.

Overall performance comparison test

First, let's take a look at the overall performance difference between Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip and Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip, and choose the test software we often use - AnTuTu Benchmark. AnTuTu Benchmark is a software specially designed for performance evaluation of Android, Windows Phone mobile phones and tablets. It can run the complete test project with one click, and through the tests of "user experience performance", "CPU performance", "RAM performance", "GPU performance" and "storage performance", it can score the single hardware performance and overall performance of the mobile phone.

Test data of Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip equipment

In the AnTuTu benchmark (v5.0) test, the total score of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip test device was 44289 points. Among them, its "multi-tasking" performance score was 6648 points, "RAM operation" score was 2213 points, and "CPU integer" and "CPU floating point" scores were 3912 points and 4090 points respectively, ranking first in the popular mobile phone running score ranking. It should be pointed out that the higher the AnTuTu score, the stronger the performance of the device.

Test data of Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 device

The Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 test device scored a total of 42449 points in the AnTuTu benchmark (v5.0). Among them, its "Multi-tasking" performance score was 5981 points, "RAM Operation" score was 3348 points, and "CPU Integer" and "CPU Floating Point" scores were 5184 points and 4749 points respectively.

From the overall score, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip test equipment has a slightly higher overall score. In terms of individual scores, the two test equipment have their own strengths. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip has a stronger "multi-tasking" performance, while the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 has a better CPU performance, reflecting the advantages of the eight-core chip.

GPU performance comparison test(1)

After understanding the overall performance differences between the two chips, let's take a look at the differences in their main individual performances, such as the performance of the graphics processor (GPU). In our daily use, the strength of the mobile phone's graphics processor directly affects the experience of the mobile phone interface, game screen effects, map navigation, etc., and its importance is no less than that of the CPU.

Test data of Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip equipment

For the GPU performance test, I chose NenaMark2 (v2.4), which is still a commonly used software. It is a hardware acceleration benchmark test program for Android devices. It tests the graphics capabilities of mobile phones by demonstrating a real-time rendering picture, including reflections, dynamic shadows, surface parameters, complex light patterns, etc., which can objectively reflect the performance of the device's GPU.

Test data of Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 device

Through the test data, we can see that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip test equipment scored 59.6fps, while the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip test equipment scored 59.2fps. The former is slightly better, but the difference between the two is obviously very small.

GPU performance comparison test (2)

Next, I will use Basemark X Professional Edition to test the two chips. Basemark X Professional Edition is a game graphics performance evaluation tool launched by Rightware, which can test the game and graphics performance of devices across platforms. It should be pointed out that Basemark X is designed to push the graphics rendering of the device to the limit, so the test score of Basemark X is generally not very high.

Basemark X Professional Edition Settings Interface

Test data of Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip equipment

In the Basemark X Professional Edition performance test, in On-Screen mode, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip test device scored 21.090FPS, while the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip test device scored 13.473 points. As shown in the figure, the difference between the two is significant. At the same time, we can also see that in Off-Screen mode, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip test device still scores higher than the latter.

Test data of Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 device

As for the above results, it is obviously consistent with the test conclusion of NenaMark2 (v2.4), that is, the performance of Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip graphics processor is stronger, and the difference reflected by Basemark X Professional Edition is more obvious, which is why the author chose multiple software tests for testing.

GPU 3D performance comparison test

At the beginning of the comparison test, I chose the commonly used AnTuTu benchmark to test their overall performance. Next, I will also choose the test software from AnTuTu - AnTuTu 3DRating for testing. As the software name suggests, AnTuTu 3DRating only focuses on the 3D part of the device's graphics processor (GPU) hardware, and its test score can better reflect the device's 3D rendering capabilities, that is, the device's performance in 3D games.

AnTuTu 3DRating main interface

Test data of Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip equipment

From the test results above, we can see that the AnTuTu 3DRating test score of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip test device is 6757 points, while the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip test device scores 6564 points. The former is still better, which is consistent with the conclusions of the previous rounds of data.

Test data of Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 device

Web Browser Benchmarks

With the development and popularization of smart phones, browsing the web and searching for information through mobile phones has gradually become a habit for many mobile phone users. In fact, the quality of mobile web browsing experience is not only related to the size and resolution of the mobile phone screen, but also closely related to the performance of the mobile phone chip.

Test data of Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip equipment

Vellamo is a web browser benchmark test software that can test the performance and stability of mobile browsers, including Java script performance, rendering, networking and user interface. The higher the test score, the higher the degree of optimization of the browser and the better the user's web browsing experience. So which of these two chips is better? Let's talk about it through data.

Test data of Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 device

From the above test data, we can see that in the Vellamo test, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip test equipment scored 1601 points in the "HTML5 item" and 1294 points in the "Metal item"; the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip test equipment scored 1689 points in the "HTML5 item" and 1123 points in the "Metal item", with some high and some low, but the difference is not big.

It should be pointed out that during the "HTML5 item" test of Vellamo, the test page of Huawei Honor 6 did not display the corresponding test content during some periods of time, but was in a "black screen" state. The HTC One Fashion Edition equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip displayed normally. Therefore, the above test data has little reference value, but the advantages and disadvantages can be judged immediately.

4K video and 3D game testing

The above introduction is just five sets of scores. However, for ordinary consumers, such test data is inevitably boring. What is the meaning behind them? Next, the author will compare the differences between the two chips from the perspective of practical application.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip device running Need for Speed ​​​​OL game screen

When I get a new phone, people often ask, "Is it laggy?" And the smoothness of the phone is also a key concern for many consumers. As for these two test devices equipped with different chips, after actual comparison tests, the control experience is smooth and natural. After all, their total AnTuTu scores have exceeded 40,000.

Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 device running Need for Speed ​​​​OL game screen

In terms of games, for large-scale 3D games such as Samurai 2, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Ski Safari, Subway Surfers, Riptide 2 and Need for Speed ​​​​OL, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip test equipment and the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip test equipment can run smoothly without any pressure. The rendering effect of the picture is also very realistic and gorgeous, the performance is satisfactory, and the difference is not obvious.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip device plays 4K video

However, it should be pointed out that for the same 4K video, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip test equipment can play it smoothly with synchronized sound and picture; while the performance of the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip test equipment is somewhat unsatisfactory, with a slightly stuck picture, which is a major flaw. This also further proves the disadvantage of Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip in graphics processing unit (GPU).

Conclusion:

At this point, I believe everyone should have a more comprehensive understanding of the differences between the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip and the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip. Although the HiSilicon Kirin 920 has eight CPU cores, its overall performance score is not twice that of the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip, but its performance score is lower. In addition, in terms of graphics processor (GPU) performance, the advantage of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip is more obvious, whether it is performance score or real-life test (such as 4K video playback). Taking all factors into consideration, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip is obviously stronger than the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 920 chip.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.