HiSilicon Kirin 960 vs HiSilicon Kirin 659

Comparisons   11-03-2021
   So, which processor or chip is better? Full data of speed tests and benchmarks HiSilicon Kirin 960 vs HiSilicon Kirin 659, compare of GPUs Mali-G71 MP8 and Mali-T830 MP2.
   This performance comparison involves two processors: Kirin 960 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A72) and Kirin 659 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A53). Both processors went throughpower consumption test and battery life test. A careful review of all the technical characteristics of the processors, to make it easier to read, is presented in the form of the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint benchmarking in special test applications like AnTuTu, GeekBench 6, 5, Mozilla Kraken, Neocore, Vellamo, PCMark, GFXBench, Quadrant, WebXPRT 3, PassMark, 3DMark, Octane V2, and how good the SoCs are in games Garena Free Fire - The Cobra, Sniper 3D, Call of Duty: Mobile, Real Racing 3, Minecraft Bedrock, Fortnite, PUBG, Mortal Kombat etc.
   After looking at the data of parallel benchmarks and videos, you can already make an briefed decision about which chipset is better to buy Kirin 960 or Kirin 659 and which chip is better for gaming: Need for Speed No Limits, CSR Racing 2, Asphalt 9, Madout2.

Summary benchmark results

As a percentage of the maximum value based on a sample from the entire base of all processors
CPU Benchmark
Based on Antutu and Geekbench score

Kirin 960

Kirin 659

Battery life test
Power Consumption efficiency (how quickly the processor reduces the battery charge)

Kirin 960

50%

Kirin 659

52%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

Kirin 960

Kirin 659

Antutu v10, 9

Antutu benchmark separately tests the performance of the CPU, GPU, and memory speed

	Kirin 960	Kirin 659
Total score	95769	75358
CPU	26819	21107
GPU	36393	28630
MEM	15324	12052
UX	17247	13572

GeekBench 6, 5.2

This benchmark shows Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	Kirin 960	Kirin 659
Single-Core	247	195
Multi-Core	1115	877

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	Kirin 960	Kirin 659
Frequency	2400 MHz	2360 MHz
Cores	8	8
Bit	64	64
Lithography	16 nm	16 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	4x2.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A72 4x1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A53	4x2.3 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 4x2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A53
Power consumption (TDP)	5 W	5 W
Memory type	LPDDR4x	LPDDR3x
Max. Memory	4 Gb	6 Gb
Memory Frequency	1600	933
Memory bandwidth	28.8	28
Neural Processor (NPU)	No	No
L1 cache	64 KB	64 KB
L2 cache	4 MB	4 MB
L3 cache		4 MB
Instruction set architecture (ISA)	ARMv8-A	ARMv8-A

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Kirin 960 is 1% better than Kirin 659 in terms of CPU frequency. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Mali-G71 MP8	Mali-T830 MP2
GPU Frequency	1037 MHz	900 MHz
GFloPS	282	61.2
# of Cores	8	2
# of Shader Units
Display	2560 x 1600 pixels	1920 x 1080 pixels

The frequency of the GPU does not always directly indicate its performance. To fully evaluate all the capabilities of a graphics chip, you should take into account the number of Shader Units and Cores, as well as how many GFlops it has.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite Mobile
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile)	21.1	17.1
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	36.9	28.6
Call of Duty: Mobile	23.8	19.5
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	18.5	14.6
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	22.5	18.2
Real Racing 3	46.1	50.1
Sniper 3D	81.2	62.9
Need for Speed No Limits	51.7	40
Mortal Kombat X	59	41.5
CSR Racing 2	40.6	34.3

The numbers in this table indicate the maximum FPS that was received on the device with the corresponding processor. Depending on the configuration of the gadget and graphics quality settings (Ultra, Medium, Normal), the results may differ quite significantly. We recommend that you better study the results of the Antutu v10, 9 and GeekBench 6, 5.2 becnmarks.

Cameras

Camera resolution	20 MP	16 MP
Dual Camera resolution		8 MP
Image Signal Processor (ISP)
Video Encoding FPS	30	30
Video Encoding resolution	FullHD	FullHD
Codec support	H.264	H.264

Networks and Navigation

Modem
Download speed	600 MBit/s.	300 MBit/s.
Upload speed	150 MBit/s.	150 MBit/s.
Navigation	GPS, Galileo, Glonass, Beidou	GPS, Galileo, Glonass, Beidou
NFC support	No	No
5G support	Yes	No

Result:
The number of parameters for which HiSilicon Kirin 960 is better: 28
The number of parameters for which HiSilicon Kirin 659 is better: 4
Please note that you do not need to blindly trust the software comparison on the table. You can watch benchmark video from beginning to end of parallel testing and listen to what those who really appreciated the capabilities of both chipsets think, as well as read the test results at the links below.

Kirin 960 SoC - all data

• Devices lists
• Benchmarks
• PUBG mobile
• Fortnite Mobile
• GeekBench 6, 5 mobile
• Antutu v10
• 3DMark

• Kirin 960 specs and review.

Kirin 659 SoC - all data

• Devices lists
• Benchmarks
• PUBG mobile
• Fortnite Mobile
• 3DMark
• GeekBench 6, 5 mobile
• Antutu v10

• Kirin 659 specs and review.