technology news: MediaTek Helio G90, G90T revealed: What to expect from its first gaming SoC?

mardi 30 juillet 2019

MediaTek Helio G90, G90T revealed: What to expect from its first gaming SoC?

mediatek helio g90 1

Gaming smartphones have seen a resurgence since the end of 2017, and almost all of these devices have been powered by Snapdragon silicon. Aside from flagship silicon, we've also seen the Snapdragon 730G touted by Qualcomm as a gaming-focused chipset.

Now, MediaTek has launched a gaming-focused SoC line of its own in the Helio G90 and G90T. You've got some capable CPU and GPU specs on paper, namely an octa-core CPU design featuring Cortex-A76 and Cortex-A55 cores (there's no word on the layout), and Arm's Mali-G76 GPU (3EEMC4) clocked at up to 800Mhz.

Read: MediaTek chip guide — All you need to know about MediaTek processors

Toss in up to 10GB of LPDDR4X RAM at up to 2,133Mhz, as well as a 12nm design, and you've got a chipset that looks poised to stand out in the upper mid-range bracket.

MediaTek says it's also introduced a so-called HyperEngine suite of technologies to improve gaming and performance in general. These technologies include a Networking Engine (intelligently triggering concurrent Wi-Fi and LTE connections when Wi-Fi degrades), the ability to connect to both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz Wi-Fi simultaneously, intelligent resource management, a Rapid Response Engine (improving touch input), and a Picture Quality Engine (supporting HDR10).

What else does the Helio G90 offer?

	MediaTek Helio G90	MediaTek Helio P90
CPU	Octa-core Cortex-A76 Cortex-A55 (details TBC)	2x Cortex-A75 at 2.2 Ghz 6x Cortex-A55 at 2.0 Ghz
GPU	Mali-G76 3EEMC4 at 800 MHz	IMG PowerVR GM 9446
AI	APU	APU at 624 Mhz AI Accelerator
Camera	24 + 16MP dual or 64MP single	25MP + 16MP dual or 48MP single
Connectivity	Cat-12 LTE Up to 1Gbps downlink	Cat-12 LTE Up to 1Gbps downlink

The Taiwanese chip designer hasn't really skimped in other areas either, saying the G90 can hit 1TMACs of AI computing power via the CPU, GPU, and APU. By comparison, the Snapdragon 710's AI capabilities top out at 614 GMACs according to MediaTek last year. There's no word if the APU is based on the Helio P60 and P70 or if it's derived from the upcoming Helio P90.

MediaTek says the Helio G90 also delivers 64MP single, 24MP+16MP dual-camera support, triple or quad camera capabilities, and 240fps video recording. It's unclear whether the processor supports 64MP snapshots without additional processing (e.g. multi-frame image processing) or if the chipset will indeed support image processing at this resolution. In any event, this puts the company in a good position to support 64MP sensors, such as the Samsung GW-1.

Other specs include Pump Express fast charging, UFS 2.1 storage support (no UFS 3.0 here), Bluetooth 5, Wi-Fi 5, and 2,520 x 1,080 display support.

MediaTek Helio P65 announced: An overdue CPU upgrade, but what else? (Update)

MediaTek Update, June 28, 2019 (01:24AM ET): MediaTek has come back to us, confirming that the Helio P65 doesn't have AI silicon like its predecessor. The company says it's running AI tasks via the …

The chip designer hasn't confirmed when we can expect phones to launch with the Helio G90, nor has it clarified a price segment for the processor. Nevertheless, we hope MediaTek brings the chipset to market rather soon, as it could well be a great rival to the Snapdragon 730G (which isn't available in phones just yet either). The firm's reputation for cheaper devices means we could also potentially see Helio G90 phones coming in at a lower price than Snapdragon 730/730G devices.

We've contacted MediaTek for more information regarding the CPU, APU, camera capabilities, and release window. Would you buy a G90-powered gaming phone? Let us know in the comments!