HiSilicon Kirin 960 vs HiSilicon Kirin 970

Comparisons   11-03-2021
   Well, which processor or chip is better? Comprehensive compare data of benchmarks HiSilicon Kirin 960 vs HiSilicon Kirin 970, speed examination of GPUs Mali-G72 MP12 and Mali-G71 MP8.
   This performance comparison includes two processors: Kirin 960 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A72) and Kirin 970 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A72). Both processors went throughpower consumption test and battery life test. A step-by-step analysis of all the technical characteristics, to make it easier to read, is summarized in the table.
   From the comparison video, you can get the results of parallel benchmarking in special test applications like AnTuTu, Vellamo, 3DMark, Neocore, Octane V2, Mozilla Kraken, PCMark, PassMark, Quadrant, GFXBench, WebXPRT 3, GeekBench 6, 5, even the gaming performance of SoCs in Real Racing 3, Minecraft Bedrock, Mortal Kombat, Fortnite, Sniper 3D, PUBG, Call of Duty: Mobile, Garena Free Fire - The Cobra etc.
   After looking at the data of parallel benchmarks and videos, you already be able to figure out which processors is better to buy Kirin 960 or Kirin 970 and which chip is better for gaming: Madout2, Need for Speed No Limits, Asphalt 9, CSR Racing 2.

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 970

11%

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

Kirin 960

50%

Kirin 970

64%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

Kirin 960

Kirin 970

Antutu v10, 9

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

	Kirin 960	Kirin 970
Total score	95769	160216
CPU	26819	44870
GPU	36393	60875
MEM	15324	25631
UX	17247	28844

GeekBench 6, 5.2

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

	Kirin 960	Kirin 970
Single-Core	247	328
Multi-Core	1115	1379

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	Kirin 960	Kirin 970
Frequency	2400 MHz	2400 MHz
Cores	8	8
Bit	64	64
Lithography	16 nm	10 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	4x2.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A72 4x1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A53	4x2.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A72 4x1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A53
Power consumption (TDP)	5 W	9 W
Memory type	LPDDR4x	LPDDR4x
Max. Memory	4 Gb	8 Gb
Memory Frequency	1600	1600
Memory bandwidth	28.8	29
Neural Processor (NPU)	No	No
L1 cache	64 KB	512 KB
L2 cache	4 MB	2 MB
L3 cache
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. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Mali-G71 MP8	Mali-G72 MP12
GPU Frequency	1037 MHz	850 MHz
GFloPS	282	346
# of Cores	8	12
# of Shader Units
Display	2560 x 1600 pixels	2560 x 1600 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		20.9
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile)	21.1	24.4
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	36.9	53.4
Call of Duty: Mobile	23.8	27.9
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	18.5	21.1
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	22.5	30.3
Real Racing 3	46.1	106.8
Sniper 3D	81.2	85.4
Need for Speed No Limits	51.7	64.1
Mortal Kombat X	59	77.4
CSR Racing 2	40.6	64.1

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	20 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		18
Download speed	600 MBit/s.	1200 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: 5
The number of parameters for which HiSilicon Kirin 970 is better: 24
Please note that you do not need to blindly trust the automatic comparison on the table. You can watch benchmark video from beginning to end of parallel testing and listen to what people think who really appreciated the capabilities of both processors Kirin 960 and Kirin 970, and also read the test results on the links under the article.

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 970 SoC - all data

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

• Kirin 970 specs and review.