HiSilicon Kirin 955 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro benchmark which processor is better

Kirin 955 vs Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro

Comparisons 11-03-2021

So, which chip or processor is better? Detailed compare data of benchmarks HiSilicon Kirin 955 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro, speed testing of GPUs Adreno 530 and Mali-T880 MP4.

This performance comparison involves two processors: Kirin 955 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A72) and Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro is quad-core (Kryo 280). Both processors went throughpower consumption test and battery life test. A thorough review of all the specifications, to make it easier to read, is made by the table.

From the video comparison, you can get the results of parallel benchmarking in software tests like WebXPRT 3, Neocore, Geekbench, AnTuTu, PassMark, GFXBench, Octane V2, Mozilla Kraken, PCMark, 3DMark, Vellamo, Quadrant, and how good the chips are in games Sniper 3D, Minecraft Bedrock, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG, Garena Free Fire - The Cobra, Real Racing 3, Fortnite etc.

After looking at the data these benchmarks and videos, you can already make an informed decision about which CPU is better to buy Kirin 955 or Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro and which chip is better for gaming: Asphalt 9, Madout2, Need for Speed No Limits, 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 955

Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro

10%

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

Kirin 955

49%

Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro

54%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

Kirin 955

Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro

Antutu v10, 9

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

	Kirin 955	Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro
Total score	102680	149901
CPU	28750	41975
GPU	39011	56961
MEM	16436	23984
UX	18491	26987

GeekBench 6, 5.2

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

	Kirin 955	Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro
Single-Core	271	306
Multi-Core	924	1349

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	Kirin 955	Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro
Frequency	2500 MHz	2400 MHz
Cores	8	4
Bit	64	64
Lithography	16 nm	14 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	4x2.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A72 4x1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A53	4x2.4 GHz Kryo 280
Power consumption (TDP)	5 W	11 W
Memory type	LPDDR4x	LPDDR4x (Dual Channel)
Max. Memory	4 Gb	6 Gb
Memory Frequency	1600	1866
Memory bandwidth	25.6	29.8
Neural Processor (NPU)	No	No
L1 cache		64 KB
L2 cache		3 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. Here Kirin 955 is 4% better than Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Kirin 955 has -4 more core than Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Mali-T880 MP4	Adreno 530
GPU Frequency	900 MHz	650 MHz
GFloPS	122.31	518.73
# of Cores	4
# of Shader Units		256
Display	2560 x 1600 pixels	3840 x 2160 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		27.4
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile)	23.8	26.5
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	39.4	53.8
Call of Duty: Mobile	26.6	28.5
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	19.9	21.4
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	25.8	37.2
Real Racing 3	69	94.2
Sniper 3D	51.2	69.9
Need for Speed No Limits	63	64.6
Mortal Kombat X	63	78
CSR Racing 2	47.3	59.2

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	28 MP
Image Signal Processor (ISP)		Qualcomm Spectra
Video Encoding FPS	30	30
Video Encoding resolution	FullHD	4K (Ultra HD), 2K, FullHD
Codec support	H.264	H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC

Networks and Navigation

Modem		Qualcomm Snapdragon X12 LTE modem
Download speed	300 MBit/s.	600 MBit/s.
Upload speed	50 MBit/s.	150 MBit/s.
Navigation	GPS, Galileo, Glonass, Beidou
NFC support	No	No
5G support	Yes	No

Result:
The number of parameters for which HiSilicon Kirin 955 is better: 6
The number of parameters for which Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro is better: 32
You need to know that you should not sightlessly trust the software comparison on the table. You can watch benchmark video from beginning to end of joint testing and hear what those who really appreciated the capabilities of both processors think, as well as read the test results at the links below.

Kirin 955 SoC - all data

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

• Kirin 955 specs and review.

Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro SoC - all data

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

• Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro specs and review.