MediaTek Helio P20 chipset cranks blazing speeds for the best mid-rangers

MediaTek is still a strong believer in a full-bore approach to applications processing. Its new Helio P20 chipset, just debuted at MWC, shows that belief off.

Still, for a spec sheet that yells of big numbers, the company has put a restraint on what this silicon can power — think “badass mid-range phone,” if you can.

The P20 uses the Cortex-A53 for all eight cores, clockable up to 2.3GHz. It has three RAM bays — two for LPDDR4X at 1.6GHz, one LPDDR3 at 933MHz. A newer Mali T-880 GPU gets into the mix here, clocked at 900MHz. The chipset’s LTE modem is said to offer Category 6 speeds (300Mbps down/50Mbps up).


Camera-wise, it can support up to a 24-megapixel sensor (or a dual setup at 13 megapixels per sensor) and 4K shooting at 30fps. MediaTek’s Imagiq processing technique is said to be better in low-light situations with its phase-detect autofocus and de-noising engine. Oddly enough, it’s only designed to power up to two full HD displays.

So, what are the bottom lines being marketed here? Power efficiency up by a quarter, for starters. Gaming performance is also touted as 25 percent better than this chipset’s predecessor, the P10. There’s also a 20 percent improvement in processor performance.

The P10 came out in June of last year.