When shopping for a new phone, the processor is the single most important spec, as it is the sole determinant of your phone's speed and overall performance.
In this article we are going to try our best to guide you the various processor details you should pay more attention, and finally help you decide on which smartphone to go for.
What is a smartphone processor?
From the word 'processor', we can say a processor is something that processes information.
It is what tells the phone what to do and how to do it, and can be generally termed as the 'brains' of the smartphone.
And just as we know that there are various parts of a brain all working together in harmony, there are also various parts of the processor, which we can call them microprocessors that work together to bring the final result of making a smartphone a 'smart' device.
These include the CPU, the signal processor, graphics processor (GPU), data modem, camera processor, network processors and so on.
The most common of these is the Central Processing Unit (CPU), which is like the overall manager in the phone.
Usually these are distinct units, but due to limited space and power, smartphone designers had to fuse all of these processors into one, commonly known as the System-on-Chip (SoC), which is mostly referred as the processor.
Unlike the PC's that have unlimited power supply and cooling systems, smartphone processors have to be designed in such a way that a balance is struck between efficient and performance, though many tend to give more weight on efficiency rather than performance.
The CPU is made up of what are known as "core" which are the ones responsible for executing the specific computing tasks.
The early processors used single core processors, and were relatively slow since single tasks took longer to process.
Then dual-core processor were introduced, followed by quad-core(4 cores), and now octa-core(8 cores).
There are also some with 6 cores, but are generally few.
The more the cores the better?
This is a question that has been getting varied responses, and since I also have to take sides, I am on the one side that believe the many the better, but first I need to do some explanation.
The CPU is a power hungry 'machine' and consumes a lot of battery juice when running.
Also, the faster the CPU, the higher the power consumption, just like how a much powerful truck consumes more fuel.
So, as earlier mentioned, we have to strike a compromise between performance and efficiency, balancing between the maximum CPU horsepower to tackle the heavy tasks and efficiency to lengthen the battery life.
Dual-core smartphone are slowly getting extinct, and we are seeing the octa-core smartphone on the rise.
But any smartphone engineer would tell you that you don't need all those cores, and probably you are not using all of them anyways.
But since almost every buyer believes many is better, that is a good business idea to exploit, and that is what phone companies are using to up their sales.
Now here is the Truth; Peak CPU performance is achieved with a dual-core mode, since the design greatly shortens time for task execution by almost four fold.
It also allows multitasking, which is a key component in the smartphone era that we're currently in.
Having more than 2 cores therefore means that all have to be paired in two or a multiple of 2.
In order to solve the problem of choosing between power and performance, CPU designers also cluster the cores as either 'power efficient' cores and 'high performance' cores.
For example, Apple A12 Bionic has 2 performance cores and 4 efficient ones.
Usually high performance cores have higher clock speed, meaning they also consume a lot of power, but are also good for heavy tasks than the efficient ones.
This means for light tasks like reading a text, you are only using the efficient cores, while the high power ones are switched off to conserve battery juice.
So, you don't need all those cores to start with, and that is why the iPhone 6 which is a dual-core had a better clock speed than many multi-core phones released at the same time.
I haven't told you were I stand, and will in the next chapter.
What to look out for in a smartphone processor.
In order tonpick the right processor, there are a number of specs you should pay attention to.
These are:
- The number of cores.
- The clock speed.
- Fabrication technology
- The CPU type.
The number of CPU cores.
This is now where I advice you to go for the higher value. I.e, the more the better.
Though Apple wanted to proof that 2 was good enough, their A12 bionic has six cores, and not two.
This is because as smartphone features increase, multi-core processors are becoming a necessity.
Also, the more the cores means the latest the processor, which means it has better power saving capabilities, improved AI support and so on.
The processor fabrication technology.
Smartphone processors are fabricated in the nanometer scale, with an actual value indicated in brackets e.g the Snapdragon 660 (14nm) or the Helio p35 (12) or snapdragon 427 (28nm).
A look at the numbers in brackets means the snapdragon 427 is quite old, while the Mediatek Helio p35 is the latest among the three.
Usually the smaller the value in brackets the recent the processor and has a much better power saving and AI support.
The latest processors are 7nm, though a number of chip manufacturers are working on a 5nm chipset technology.
When shopping for a processor, try to go for as low as possible in the fabrication scale.
E.g, the two processors, above, the Snapdragon 660 (14nm) and the Helio p35 (12nm) are both mid-range processors.
But if I was to choose between them, I would go for the Helio p35.
I advice you never to accept a processor of with a bigger value than 12nm, no matter how powerful it is. Am sure you can get a much better alternative.
The processor CPU.
Though this is also determined by the fabrication technology, it might also help to know that your chipset is powered by the most latest CPU.
For those powered by Cortes ARM CPU's they have specific numbers e.g ARM cortex A73, A72, A57, A15, A53, A9, A8.
IN this case, the bigger the number the powerful the CPU.
The processor fabrication technology.
Smartphone processors are fabricated in the nanometer scale, with an actual value indicated in brackets e.g the Snapdragon 660 (14nm) or the Helio p35 (12) or snapdragon 427 (28nm).
A look at the numbers in brackets means the snapdragon 427 is quite old, while the Mediatek Helio p35 is the latest among the three.
Usually the smaller the value in brackets the recent the processor and has a much better power saving and AI support.
The latest processors are 7nm, though a number of chip manufacturers are working on a 5nm chipset technology.
When shopping for a processor, try to go for as low as possible in the fabrication scale.
E.g, the two processors, above, the Snapdragon 660 (14nm) and the Helio p35 (12nm) are both mid-range processors.
But if I was to choose between them, I would go for the Helio p35.
I advice you never to accept a processor of with a bigger value than 12nm, no matter how powerful it is. Am sure you can get a much better alternative.
The processor CPU.
Though this is also determined by the fabrication technology, it might also help to know that your chipset is powered by the most latest CPU.
For those powered by Cortes ARM CPU's they have specific numbers e.g ARM cortex A73, A72, A57, A15, A53, A9, A8.
IN this case, the bigger the number the powerful the CPU.
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