MediaTek has just unveiled its new Helio P65 chipset, with faster CPU cores as well as a beefed up NPU. It’s not a strict upgrade over the older Helio P60 chipset (and the very similar P70), however.
The MediaTek Helio P65’s CPU features two Cortex-A75 and six Cortex-A55 cores. For comparison, the Helio P60/P70 used four A73 and four A53 (older generation, but a different proportion of big/little cores).
According to ARM, the A75 is on average 22% faster than an A73. The A55 gets a similar 18% boost over the A53. So, expect higher single-threaded performance but a lower multi-threaded score.
The GPU switches to ARM Mali-G52 cores instead of the more powerful G72 cores used in the Helio P60/P70. It’s the same Bifrost architecture, so expect a drop in 3D performance.
Then there’s the NPU – MediaTek says its twice as fast as the previous mainstream Helio chipset (thus beating both the P60 and P70), and 30% faster than what’s in the “direct competitor†chipset.
The camera-related hardware was enhanced too. It has hardware support for 48MP Quad Bayer sensors as well Multi-Frame Noise reduction. The chipset can create bokeh shots with one or two cameras.
Videos can be encoded in H.265 format and enjoy Electronic Image Stabilization and Rolling Shutter compensation (RSC). The chipset only supports recording up to 1080p/60 videos, however (no 4K). A secure ISP promises fast camera-based face unlock.
| Helio P65 | Helio P70 | |
| CPU (big) | 2x Cortex-A75 (2.0GHz) | 4x Cortex-A73 (2.1GHz) |
| CPU (little) | 6x Cortex-A55 | 4x Cortex-A53 |
| GPU | Mali-G52 2EEMC2 | Mali-G72 MP3 |
| RAM | 1x LPDDR4x | 2x LPDDR4x |
| Storate | eMMC 5.1 | UFS 2.1, eMMC 5.1 |
| Camera | 48MP Quad Bayer, Dual 16MP | 32MP, 20+16MP |
| Video | H.265, 1080p/60, EIS, RSC | H.264, 1080p, EIS |
| Display | 1080p+ (21:9) | 1080p+ (18:9) |
| Connectivity | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou |
In terms of connectivity, the Helio P65 offers dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth v5.0 (up from v4.2). Indoor navigation is improved thanks to the new GNSS engine.
Unlike the Helio P60 and P70, the P65 cannot be connected to UFS storage – only eMMC 5.1. Also, it doesn’t support dual channel LPDDR4x RAM. We’re curious to see what the drop in overall performance will be compared to the current mid-range Helio chips (and there will be a drop).
The MediaTek Helio P65 will likely be used in mid-range phones, though we don’t expect anything too premium. That’s Helio P90’s domain.
PS. MediaTek keeps mum on the manufacturing process, but considering that the P60, P70 and P90 are all built on TSMC’s 12nm FinFET node, we don’t expect anything different.
