Huawei takes on Qualcomm with new Kirin 980 processor

While it is meant to best its previous generation processor, Huawei’s newest system-on-a-chip, the Kirin 980 is actually setting its sights on its competition, specifically the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. Qualcomm’s chip is after all powering all the latest flagships, outside of Huawei’s own devices. And it wants to remind the market that they have stepped up their game. It’s the first 7nm processor to pack in 6.9 billion transistors into a chip not bigger than a thumbnail. Compared to the 10nm process, it’s said to perform 20 percent better and be 40 percent more efficient.  

It’s the first to embed Cortex A-76 cores and Mali-G76 GPU, which promises to make the Kirin 980 an efficient, high-performing chip ready to give you the best gaming and all-around experience Huawei can offer right now. It offers 20 percent better bandwidth and 22 percent lower latency than the Snapdragon 845, when it comes to memory. It’s shown to produce 22 percent higher frame rates than the 845, too, while keeping power consumption 32 percent lower. 

Huawei has also honed in on its artificial intelligence experience by giving this chip better processing power and smarts. It’s capable of recognizing up to 4,600 images per minute, which is significantly more than what the Snapdragon 845 can recognize (2,371 images). AI is also used to predict load requirements to make the device carrying it more responsive to the user and maximizing the capabilities of the processor. The Kirin 980 also has a new dual image signal processor (ISP), which boosts camera processing to 46 percent faster than its predecessor and 23 percent improvement in terms of power efficiency and 33 percent when it comes to latency improvements.  

The Kirin 980 also boasts of providing the fastest smartphone Wi-Fi speed at 1,732Mbps. The Snapdragon 845 can get up to 866Mbps with a Qualcomm modem or 1,083Mbps with a third-party modem. 

You can expect to see this new processor powering the upcoming Mate 20, which is set to launch on October 16th. Huawei Canada hints at bringing this device to the country. 

Source: The Verge