Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996

Comparisons 11-03-2021

Well, which chip or processor is better? Full data of benchmarks and speed tests Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996, comparison of GPUs Adreno 530 and Adreno 510.

This performance comparison involves two processors: Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 is gexa-core (ARM Cortex-A72) and Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 is quad-core (Kryo 280). Both processors went through battery life test and power consumption test. A careful review of all the technical characteristics of the SoCs, so that it can be easier to read, is summarized in the table.

From the comparison video, you can get the results of joint benchmarking in synthetic type tests like GeekBench 6, 5, WebXPRT 3, PCMark, PassMark, Vellamo, GFXBench, 3DMark, Octane V2, Quadrant, Neocore, AnTuTu, Mozilla Kraken, even the gaming performance of chips in Minecraft Bedrock, Real Racing 3, Sniper 3D, Garena Free Fire - The Cobra, Mortal Kombat, Fortnite, PUBG, Call of Duty: Mobile etc.

After reading the results of parallel benchmarks and videos, you already be able to understand which processors is better to buy Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 or Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 and which chip is better for gaming: CSR Racing 2, Need for Speed No Limits, 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

Snapdragon 650 MSM8956

Snapdragon 820 MSM8996

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

Snapdragon 650 MSM8956

25%

Snapdragon 820 MSM8996

52%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

Snapdragon 650 MSM8956

Snapdragon 820 MSM8996

Antutu v10, 9

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

	Snapdragon 650 MSM8956	Snapdragon 820 MSM8996
Total score	86746	125956
CPU	24279	35262
GPU	32957	47872
MEM	13874	20152
UX	15623	22681

GeekBench 6, 5.2

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

	Snapdragon 650 MSM8956	Snapdragon 820 MSM8996
Single-Core	224	257
Multi-Core	1010	1133

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	Snapdragon 650 MSM8956	Snapdragon 820 MSM8996
Frequency	1800 MHz	2200 MHz
Cores	6	4
Bit	64	64
Lithography	28 nm	14 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	2x1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A72 4x1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A53	4x2.2 GHz Kryo 280
Power consumption (TDP)	6 W	11 W
Memory type	LPDDR4x (Dual Channel)	LPDDR4x (Dual Channel)
Max. Memory	8 Gb	8 Gb
Memory Frequency	1866	1866
Memory bandwidth	14	29.8
Neural Processor (NPU)	No	No
L1 cache	256 KB
L2 cache	1 MB
L3 cache	1 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 Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 is 18% better than Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 has -2 more core than Snapdragon 820 MSM8996. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Adreno 510	Adreno 530
GPU Frequency	600 MHz	624 MHz
GFloPS	176	497.98
# of Cores
# of Shader Units	128	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		25.2
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile)	17.8	48.8
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	31.1	52.5
Call of Duty: Mobile	19.9	27.1
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	15.4	44.3
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	18.2	63.7
Real Racing 3	54.4	105
Sniper 3D	59.1	84
Need for Speed No Limits	56	84
Mortal Kombat X	45.1	68.3
CSR Racing 2	43.5	57.8

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

Networks and Navigation

Modem	Qualcomm Snapdragon X8 LTE modem	Qualcomm Snapdragon X12 LTE modem
Download speed	300 MBit/s.	600 MBit/s.
Upload speed	100 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 Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 is better: 6
The number of parameters for which Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 is better: 29
You need to understand that you should not blindly trust the automatic comparison of the table. It is better to just watch the full benchmark video of parallel comparison and listen to what those who really appreciated the capabilities of both SoCs think, as well as read the test results at the links below.

Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 SoC - all data

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

• Snapdragon 650 MSM8956 specs and review.

Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 SoC - all data

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

• Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 specs and review.