Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 vs HiSilicon Kirin 659

Comparisons 11-03-2021

So, which chip or processor is better? Comprehensive data of speed tests and benchmarks Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 vs HiSilicon Kirin 659, comparison of GPUs Adreno 505 and Mali-T830 MP2.

This performance comparison includes two processors: Snapdragon 429 is quad-core (ARM Cortex-A53) and Kirin 659 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A53). Both processors went through battery life test and power consumption test. A thorough review of all the specifications of the SoCs, so that it can be easier to read, is made by the table.

From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint benchmarking in synthetic type tests like PCMark, Neocore, Vellamo, Geekbench, PassMark, WebXPRT 3, Mozilla Kraken, AnTuTu, Octane V2, GFXBench, 3DMark, Quadrant, even the gaming performance of chipsets in Real Racing 3, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty: Mobile, Garena Free Fire - The Cobra, Fortnite, PUBG, Minecraft Bedrock, Sniper 3D etc.

After reading the results these benchmarks and videos, you already be able to figure out which CPU is better to buy Snapdragon 429 or Kirin 659 and which chip is better for gaming: Asphalt 9, CSR Racing 2, Need for Speed No Limits, 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

Snapdragon 429

Kirin 659

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

Snapdragon 429

64%

Kirin 659

52%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

Snapdragon 429

Kirin 659

Antutu v10, 9

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

	Snapdragon 429	Kirin 659
Total score	65308	75358
CPU	18278	21107
GPU	24823	28630
MEM	10456	12052
UX	11762	13572

GeekBench 6, 5.2

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

	Snapdragon 429	Kirin 659
Single-Core	169	195
Multi-Core	760	877

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	Snapdragon 429	Kirin 659
Frequency	2000 MHz	2360 MHz
Cores	4	8
Bit	64	64
Lithography	12 nm	16 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	4x2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A53	4x2.3 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 4x2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A53
Power consumption (TDP)	6 W	5 W
Memory type	LPDDR3	LPDDR3x
Max. Memory	4 Gb	6 Gb
Memory Frequency	800	933
Memory bandwidth	6.4	28
Neural Processor (NPU)	No	No
L1 cache		64 KB
L2 cache		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 659 is 15% better than Snapdragon 429 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Snapdragon 429 has 4 more core than Kirin 659. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Adreno 505	Mali-T830 MP2
GPU Frequency	500 MHz	900 MHz
GFloPS	48	61.2
# of Cores		2
# of Shader Units	48
Display	1280 x 800 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)	14.2	17.1
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	23.7	28.6
Call of Duty: Mobile	16.5	19.5
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	11.6	14.6
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	15.6	18.2
Real Racing 3	47.4	50.1
Sniper 3D	30.8	62.9
Need for Speed No Limits	33.2	40
Mortal Kombat X	27.3	41.5
CSR Racing 2	30.8	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	16 MP	16 MP
Dual Camera resolution	8 MP	8 MP
Image Signal Processor (ISP)
Video Encoding FPS	30	30
Video Encoding resolution	FullHD	FullHD
Codec support	H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC	H.264

Networks and Navigation

Modem	Qualcomm Snapdragon X6 LTE modem
Download speed	150 MBit/s.	300 MBit/s.
Upload speed	75 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 Qualcomm Snapdragon 429 is better: 3
The number of parameters for which HiSilicon Kirin 659 is better: 34
You need to know that you should not blindly trust the automatic comparison of the table. You can watch benchmark video from beginning to end of joint comparison and listen to what those who really appreciated the capabilities of both CPUs think, and also read the test results on the links under the article.

Snapdragon 429 SoC - all data

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

• Snapdragon 429 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.