TSMC’s 12nm is almost equivalent to Samsung’s 14nm (used to manufacture Snapdragon 660 & 636) and has only a 3-4% higher transistor density. So, there’s nothing much to get excited about.
But the exciting part is that even though it doesn’t pack a very powerful GPU, the real-world gaming performance is actually pretty good. Most games including PUBG Mobile are playable without any hiccups.
The Mali-G51 MP4 GPU used in Kirin 710 is weaker than Adreno 509 (Snapdragon 636) and Mali-G72 MP3 (Helio P70). However, with the help of GPU Turbo Boost and some good optimizations by Huawei, the gaming performance is pretty smooth. But it is still no match for Snapdragon 660 when it comes to gaming performance.
So, that’s it for the brief introduction and now here’s the pros. and cons. table for those of you who are in a hurry. And to those who want to read the complete review, let’s go ahead and explore this processor.
In Cons senction, I’ve mentioned the lack of Kernel Sources for those of you who like to root their devices and flash custom ROMs. However, Huawei has stopped Bootloader Unlocking so flashing custom ROMs is already out of the picture.
As already mentioned, Kirin 710 is fabricated using TSMC’s 12nm Node. It is an Octa-Core CPU with ARM’s
big.LITTLE
architecture.
The 8 cores are divided into 2 clusters of 4 cores each. The big cluster consists of four Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.2 GHz while the power efficient cluster has 4 Cortex-A53 cores.
It has the Quad-Core Mali-G51 MP4 Graphics Processor that can support a maximum display resolution of Full HD+. Huawei’s GPU Boost Technology also improves gaming performance by a small margin.
While most of the competitors of Kirin 710 pack LPDDR4x RAM, this chip only supports LPDDR4 RAM. For those of you that don’t know, LPDDR4x has slightly higher bandwidth and lower power consumption as compared to LPDDR4. Most mid-range SOCs like Snapdragon 636, 660, and Helio P70 have support for LPDDR4x RAM.
The integrated modem supports maximum download speeds up to 600 Mbps and upload speeds up to 150 Mbps. Dual 4G VoLTE is also supported by this modem.
This chip supports Bluetooth v4.2 while Snapdragon 636 & 660 are again ahead with Bluetooth 5.0 support.
In our real-world performance testing, we have given the Kirin 710 a score of 98. This means the chip is on the same level as Exynos 7885 and Helio P60 while it falls just short of Helio P70. Snapdragon 660 is ahead with 3 points for its superior GPU and features.
The Antutu score of Kirin 710 is impressive as well with both the Honor 8X and Honor 10 Lite almost touching the 140K mark.
In the Geekbench test, Kirin 710 manages 1,598 points in the Single-Core test and 5,528 points in the Multi-Core test. Both the Single-Core and Multi-Core scores are pretty impressive and are on the same level as the Snapdragon 660 an Helio P70.
Benchmarks never tell the whole story so here’s the real-world performance review that you’re looking for.
Remember when I review a processor or any product in general, I consider the price range of that product in mind. So, when I call a product as ‘best’, it means that it is best in its price category.
General Performance
Using the Honor 8X and Honor 10 Lite is a pretty smooth experience. It is great for heavy-users as well as normal users that use their smartphone just for Social Media, Browsing & Media Consumption.
The powerful Cortex-A73 deliver the extreme performance that you need in gaming while the efficient Cortex-A53 help in saving the battery life. I’ll give the Kirin 710 5/5 stars in the Performance part. It is equivalent to both Helio P70 and Snapdragon 660 is performance department.
Gaming Performance
Though the Kirin 710 has a weak Mali-G51 MP4 GPU, the real-world gaming performance isn’t bad at all. The gaming performance of this chip is weaker than Snapdragon 636/660 and Helio P60/P70 but still good enough to run every Android game at 1080p.
Even with the GPU Turbo Boost, the gaming performance cannot reach the level of other chips that I mentioned. If you’re someone who occasionally plays PUBG Mobile and other heavy games, you can definitely pick this phone.
But if you’re someone whose primary requirement is to play games on his/her smartphone, Snapdragon 660 is a better choice. The Adreno 512 packs deliver a much higher FPS as compared to Mali-G51 MP4.
Feel free to refer to our
GPU rankings
to know which GPU is superior to the other.
Power Efficiency
For those who haven’t read my article of
Fabrication Technology
, I’ve explained why the TSMC’s 12nm is nothing more than a marketing gimmick and it is almost equal to the 14nm Node of Samsung. And both of these nodes are way inferior to the 14nm Node of Intel.
Hence, in terms of power efficiency, consider this equivalent to other 14nm SOCs like Snapdragon 636.
However, I would rate it even below SD636 for power efficiency because of two reasons:
The first is the use of LPDDR4 Memory which is less efficient than LPDDR4x Memory.
If you’re someone who uses Bluetooth headphones or a fitness band that is 24/7 connected to your phone, the second reason will apply to you as well. The Bluetooth v5.0 in most midrange SOCs saves some decent amount of battery juice when compared to the Bluetooth 4.2 in Kirin 710.
Even though the above two points don’t have a serious impact, I thought it was worth a mention.
Ratings
Comparison with other Processors
Before we wrap up the review, let’s have a brief comparison with other SOCs. The points that I mention here are the ones that have a significant impact on our Smartphone SOC Rankings.
Kirin 710 vs Snapdragon 660
Winner
Snapdragon 660
Snapdragon 660
outperforms Kirin 710 is GPU performance while they are equivalent in CPU Performance.
Kirin 710
vs
Snapdragon
845
Winner
Snapdragon 845
Snapdragon 636 has a weaker CPU but a slightly better GPU.
Kirin 710
vs Snapdragon 710
Winner
Snapdragon 710
The
Snapdragon 710
is far better than Kirin 710 is all aspects.
Kirin 710
vs Helio P70
Winner
Helio P70
Helio P70
outperforms Kirin 710 in GPU Performance while they have comparable CPU Performance.
Kirin 710
vs Exynos 7904
Winner
Kirin 710
Kashish Kumawat is a Computer Engineer and a PC Hardware Enthusiast. He is the Founder & Chief Editor of Tech Centurion. He reviews Consumer Electronics such as PC Components, Smartphones, and Gaming Accessories. Kashish likes to stay up to date with the latest trends in consumer electronics and the Semiconductor Industry. He lives in Jaipur and has more than 4 years of experience in writing and reviewing products. Kashish has done major in Computer Science from SKIT, Jaipur. He believes in writing high-quality reviews & informational content to help users understand a product better. He loves to hang out in Computer Hardware related subreddits and online forums. To contact him,
visit this page
.
Here’s a few things worse considering when comparing Kirin 710 to SD636 :
First is the presence of Hexagon 680 DSP in SD636 that puts this chip way ahead of K710
Not to mention AI capabilities of the SD636 And presence of flagship Spectra 160 ISP here
LTE X12 modem on SD636 is more power oficeint and connected than of the K710’s…
And finally we have the ability to install after market ROMs
