HiSilicon Kirin 970 vs HiSilicon Kirin 985 5G

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The HiSilicon Kirin 970 and the HiSilicon Kirin 985 5G are both powerful processors manufactured by Huawei's semiconductor subsidiary, HiSilicon.

Starting with the HiSilicon Kirin 970, it features an architecture that consists of 4x 2.4 GHz Cortex-A73 cores and 4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 cores. With a total of 8 cores, this processor provides a balanced performance suitable for a wide range of applications. It uses the ARMv8-A instruction set and is built on a 10nm lithography process, resulting in efficient power consumption. The Kirin 970 also boasts HiSilicon NPU (Neural Processing Unit) technology, which enhances artificial intelligence capabilities.

On the other hand, the HiSilicon Kirin 985 5G takes a step forward in terms of performance and technology. Its architecture consists of 1x 2.58 GHz Cortex-A76 core, 3x 2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 cores, and 4x 1.84 GHz Cortex-A55 cores. With this combination, the Kirin 985 5G delivers both high-performance and power-efficient processing. It utilizes the ARMv8.2-A instruction set and is built on an even more advanced 7nm lithography process, resulting in even better power efficiency. The Kirin 985 5G also incorporates Huawei's own Ascend D110 Lite and Ascend D100 Tiny neural processing units, which are based on the HUAWEI Da Vinci Architecture. This advanced neural processing technology greatly enhances AI performance.

In terms of power consumption, the Kirin 985 5G has a lower thermal design power (TDP) of 6 Watts compared to the Kirin 970's 9 Watts. This means that the Kirin 985 5G is more power-efficient, allowing for longer battery life in devices that use it.

Overall, the HiSilicon Kirin 985 5G surpasses the Kirin 970 in terms of performance, power efficiency, and AI capabilities. With its advanced architecture, lower TDP, and advanced neural processing technologies, the Kirin 985 5G is well-suited for next-generation smartphones and other devices that require high-performance processing and AI capabilities.

CPU cores and architecture

Architecture 4x 2.4 GHz – Cortex-A73
4x 1.8 GHz – Cortex-A53
1x 2.58 GHz – Cortex-A76
3x 2.4 GHz – Cortex-A76
4x 1.84 GHz – Cortex-A55
Number of cores 8 8
Instruction Set ARMv8-A ARMv8.2-A
Lithography 10 nm 7 nm
Number of transistors 5500 million
TDP 9 Watt 6 Watt
Neural Processing HiSilicon NPU Ascend D110 Lite + Ascend D100 Tiny, HUAWEI Da Vinci Architecture

Memory (RAM)

Max amount up to 8 GB up to 12 GB
Memory type LPDDR4 LPDDR4X
Memory frequency 1866 MHz 2133 MHz
Memory-bus 4x16 bit 4x16 bit

Storage

Storage specification UFS 2.1 UFS 3.0

Graphics

GPU name Mali-G72 MP12 Mali-G77 MP8
GPU Architecture Bifrost Valhall
GPU frequency 750 MHz 700 MHz
Execution units 12 8
Shaders 192 128
DirectX 12 12
OpenCL API 2.0 2.1
OpenGL API ES 3.2
Vulkan API 1.0 1.2

Camera, Video, Display

Max screen resolution 2340x1080 3120x1440
Max camera resolution 1x 48MP, 2x 20MP 1x 48MP, 2x 20MP
Max Video Capture 4K@30fps 4K@30fp
Video codec support H.264 (AVC)
H.265 (HEVC)
VP8
VP9
H.264 (AVC)
H.265 (HEVC)
VP8
VP9

Wireless

4G network Yes Yes
5G network Yes Yes
Peak Download Speed 1.2 Gbps 1.4 Gbps
Peak Upload Speed 0.15 Gbps 0.2 Gbps
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) 5 (802.11ac)
Bluetooth 4.2 5.0
Satellite navigation BeiDou
GPS
Galileo
GLONASS
BeiDou
GPS
Galileo
GLONASS

Supplemental Information

Launch Date 2017 September 2020 Quarter 2
Partnumber Hi3670 Hi6290
Vertical Segment Mobiles Mobiles
Positioning Flagship Mid-end

AnTuTu 10

Total Score
Kirin 970
318577
Kirin 985 5G
467882

GeekBench 6 Single-Core

Score
Kirin 970
389
Kirin 985 5G
699

GeekBench 6 Multi-Core

Score
Kirin 970
1502
Kirin 985 5G
2593