Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 vs HiSilicon Kirin 970 benchmark which processor is better

Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 vs Kirin 970

Comparisons 11-03-2021

Well, which processor or chip is better? Detailed comparison data of benchmarks Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 vs HiSilicon Kirin 970, speed examination of GPUs Mali-G72 MP12 and Adreno 530.

This performance comparison includes two processors: Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 is quad-core (Kryo 280) and Kirin 970 is octa-core (ARM Cortex-A72). Both processors went through battery life test and power consumption test. A thorough review of all the technical characteristics, so that it can be easier to understand, is made by the table.

From the comparison video, you can get the results of joint benchmarking in software tests such as Quadrant, 3DMark, WebXPRT 3, Octane V2, Geekbench, GFXBench, Neocore, PCMark, PassMark, Vellamo, Mozilla Kraken, AnTuTu 8, even the gaming performance of processors in Call of Duty: Mobile, Mortal Kombat, Minecraft Bedrock, PUBG, Sniper 3D, Fortnite, Garena Free Fire - The Cobra, Real Racing 3 etc.

After reading the results these benchmarks and videos, you already be able to know which CPU is better to buy Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 or Kirin 970 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

Snapdragon 820 MSM8996

Kirin 970

11%

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

Snapdragon 820 MSM8996

52%

Kirin 970

64%

Gaming performance
Which CPU is better for gaming

Snapdragon 820 MSM8996

Kirin 970

Antutu v10, 9

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

	Snapdragon 820 MSM8996	Kirin 970
Total score	125956	160216
CPU	35262	44870
GPU	47872	60875
MEM	20152	25631
UX	22681	28844

GeekBench 6, 5.2

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

	Snapdragon 820 MSM8996	Kirin 970
Single-Core	257	328
Multi-Core	1133	1379

Comparison of specifications

CPU and Memory

	Snapdragon 820 MSM8996	Kirin 970
Frequency	2200 MHz	2400 MHz
Cores	4	8
Bit	64	64
Lithography	14 nm	10 nm
Transistors count
Core configuration	4x2.2 GHz Kryo 280	4x2.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A72 4x1.8 GHz ARM Cortex-A53
Power consumption (TDP)	11 W	9 W
Memory type	LPDDR4x (Dual Channel)	LPDDR4x
Max. Memory	8 Gb	8 Gb
Memory Frequency	1866	1600
Memory bandwidth	29.8	29
Neural Processor (NPU)	No	No
L1 cache		512 KB
L2 cache		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. Here Kirin 970 is 8% better than Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 has 4 more core than Kirin 970. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption.

GPU and Media

GPU	Adreno 530	Mali-G72 MP12
GPU Frequency	624 MHz	850 MHz
GFloPS	497.98	346
# of Cores		12
# of Shader Units	256
Display	3840 x 2160 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	25.2	20.9
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG Mobile)	48.8	24.4
Garena Free Fire - The Cobra	52.5	53.4
Call of Duty: Mobile	27.1	27.9
Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5 Mobile)	44.3	21.1
Minecraft: Pocket Edition	63.7	30.3
Real Racing 3	105	106.8
Sniper 3D	84	85.4
Need for Speed No Limits	84	64.1
Mortal Kombat X	68.3	77.4
CSR Racing 2	57.8	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	28 MP	20 MP
Image Signal Processor (ISP)	Qualcomm Spectra
Video Encoding FPS	30	30
Video Encoding resolution	4K (Ultra HD), 2K, FullHD	FullHD
Codec support	H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC	H.264

Networks and Navigation

Modem	Qualcomm Snapdragon X12 LTE modem	18
Download speed	600 MBit/s.	1200 MBit/s.
Upload speed	150 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 820 MSM8996 is better: 14
The number of parameters for which HiSilicon Kirin 970 is better: 22
Please note that you do not need to sightlessly trust the software comparison of the table. It is better to just watch the full benchmark video of joint testing and listen to what people say who really appreciated the capabilities of both processors Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 and Kirin 970, as well as read the test results at the links below.

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.

Kirin 970 SoC - all data

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

• Kirin 970 specs and review.